Getting To Know Somebody
by Vidservent
Summary: A stranger arrives at Ikebukuro and is having troubles in finding directions. Who is that stranger? How will the stranger find the way through Ikebukuro? Shizuo x OC and OC centric
1. Stranger

First of all this is my very first fanfic and I would like the characters that aren't mine to stay in character, that means there will be an OC.

At first I wanted to make a fic that's focus on Shizuo but I ended up bringing other characters into the spotlight. In the end I've decided that the story will be about my OC and it's interactions with the Durarara characters in Ikebukuro :P

Durarara belongs to Ryougo Narita

* * *

On a sunny afternoon a man in a bartender suit named Heiwajima Shizuo was sitting on a bench in South Ikebukuro Park. He had nothing to do in particular. Tom told him that their free until 7 pm for their next job so he was just sitting in the park waiting for the time to pass by.

Suddenly someone approached the man in a bartender suit who no one else would have approached. It was someone wearing a light blue hoody with long pants and a cap.

"Excuse me"

"Can you tell me where I can find this address?"

The stranger said while handing him a small sheet of paper with an address on it.

Shizuo looked at the address that the stranger has given him. He straightens his glasses and said:

"Ah, I know where this is."

"Really? That's great"

"How can I get there?"

"You can get there by foot, but it's pretty far."

The stranger paused for a while and said:

"Then can you escort me there?"

"Huh..?"

Shizuo tilted his head while considering what the stranger just requested.

After giving it a thought Shizuo stood up

"Fine, I'll take you there"

"Thanks, and sorry for troubling you."

The stranger bowed as to show appreciation

"No problem, I don't have anything better to do now anyway."

And with that Shizuo escorted the stranger to its destination.

In the middle of their journey the stranger started talking.

"Oh, how rude of me?"

"I haven't introduced myself."

"My name is Kanzaki Miyuki, nice to meet you."

- It's been about 30 minutes since we left the park

- And you just introduce yourself now?

With those thoughts in his head Shizuo still replied to Kanzaki Miyuki.

"I'm Heiwajima Shizuo."

"Heiwajima Shizuo? That's a nice name."

"Yeah, I wish I was more like it."

Kanzaki tilted his head in confusion, not getting what Shizuo just meant by more like his name. If he was a local resident of Ikebukuro he might have understood what Shizuo meant.

Heiwajima Shizuo was known to be the strongest man Ikebukuro which you should never mess with. But Kanzaki was person that had no knowledge of that just kept quiet and followed Shizuo as he was escorted.

Not long after their introduction Kanzaki started talking again.

"By the way Shizuo-san."

"What is your job?"

Normally people who don't know Shizuo would just assume that he's a bartender since he wears a bartender outfit but Kanzaki still asked him the question anyway.

"Why do you ask?"

Shizuo looked at him wondering what intentions would make someone ask out of the blue what his job was. Even Shizuo knew that normally people who don't know him will mistake him for a bartender. Yet, why did this person ask?

"I'm just curious."

"I mean if you're a bartender then why would you be sitting on a park bench in the middle of the day?"

His statement was right. If Shizuo was a real bartender he wouldn't be sitting on a bench in a park when he should be in a bar.

Hearing that statement Shizuo turned his gaze back on the road.

"If you really want to know, I'm a debt collector for paid websites."

"So that's what you do."

Kanzaki said with a usual tone. Shizuo thought that Kanzaki would ask why is he wearing a bartender suit despite the fact that he's not a bartender but Kanzaki just followed Shizuo without asking anymore questions.

On their way, they met two otakus who seem to be carrying a lot of manga while they were passing by the Animate building.

"Isn't that Shizu-chan?"

Said a girl in black clothes while carrying a stack of manga.

Shizuo looked and noticed the two of them.

"Yo Yumasaki, Karisawa, what are you guys doing?"

"oh Shizuo, we just finished shopping."

Replied the man called Yumasaki

"What are you doing here Shizuo?"

"I'm just passing by to get this guy over here to some place."

Shizuo said flatly. Kanzaki on the other hand was looking at the stack of manga the two of them were carrying.

"Hey is that the new edition of Shonen JUMP?"

"Yes, it is."

"It just got out today."

"I gotta buy one later."

After that Shizuo and Kanzaki continued their journey.

As the two of them keep walking Kanzaki felt thirsty and went to buy some drinks from a vending machine that they just passed not long ago and left Shizuo waiting on the street.

- If he was thirsty he should have just bought the drink while we passed by the vending machine earlier.

- Well, I guess I'll just have to wait.

While Shizuo was waiting for Kanzaki to come back with the drinks he saw someone familiar. The person was the last person he'd want to see on earth. Orihara Izaya his enemy was walking down the streets of Ikebukuro with a casual way of walking.

Seeing the person he hated the most, he took a sign pole from the side of the road and chased Izaya so he could kill him.

When Kanzaki got back he couldn't see Shizuo anywhere.

- Where's Shizuo-san?

- Don't tell me he ditched me.

- Maybe he went ahead to catch up the pace since I took my time in buying these drinks.

Kanzaki went walking fast to the direction they were heading.

- Come to think of it wasn't there a sign pole over there before I left?

Later then, Kanzaki caught up with Shizuo but by then Izaya was no longer in sight and Shizuo had thrown away the sign pole that he took when he was chasing Izaya.

Seeing Shizuo acting normally like nothing had happened, Kanzaki had no idea of what kind of disaster just happened and handed over a carton milk box to Shizuo.

At last they have made it to their destination.

"Thanks again Shizuo-san."

"No problem."

"I hope we meet again someday."

As Kanzaki went inside the apartment, Shizuo left to go to a place closer to where he and Tom had agreed to meet.

- hmmm that Shizuo guy seems interesting

- I hope I really do meet him again soon

**At a place near the park**

"Hey Shizuo, you ready for work?"

Tom, his boss asked him before heading off.

"Yeah, let's go."

"So, what did you do today?"

"Well I kind of showed the way for a lost guy."

"?"

* * *

Ok so that's the beginning of the story

There will be a lot of twists in the story so stay tuned and please tell me what you think of my first fic :D

Next chapter: Confusion


	2. Confusion

**1 Week Later**

Tom and Shizuo are eating at Lotteria. Today is going to be another busy day dealing with people who don't want to pay what they owe.

"So we have 5 stops today."

Tom sipped his black coffee and then he sighed.

"We've got a list of some pretty troublesome people today it might take all day to round them all up."

As the two men continued to eat after discussing their work for the day, they heard something.

"Ah, Shizuo-san long time no see."

It was a voice of a girl not far from where they were eating. The girl that called out for Shizuo wore a cheerful smile as she waved her hand in the air.

"Shizuo, do you know that girl?"

Tom asks wondering who that girl might be.

"I have no idea."

The girl walked towards them. She was a simply pretty girl but she also seemed to be a tomboy. She was wearing Levis jeans and a jacket with a plain white shirt inside. Her hair was brown and was as long as her elbows.

"It's really been a while since we last met Shizuo-san."

The girl said with such a friendly tone and smiled.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

Shizuo looked confused and he is certain that he never met that girl before.

"You don't remember me?"

"Well, I guess I can't blame you since we only met once."

"But I was pretty sure you'd remember me since we had such a long walk together."

Hearing that Shizuo became even more confused.

-Since when did I walk with a girl?

He asked himself trying to remember if that really happened.

The girl sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh well, since you don't remember I'll introduce myself again."

"It's me Kanzaki Miyuki."

The girl said with a bright smile

Now Shizuo became even more confused. He remembered that name yet why is someone else using that name?

"Huh? Weren't you a guy?"

Shizuo said in confusion as he narrowed one of his eyebrows while Tom was clueless on what situation is going on.

"Since when did I say I was a guy?"

"But then again I didn't say that I was actually a girl either."

"Well, I did look like a guy with that kind of outfit."

"And I did change my voice a bit since I had a sore throat back then."

Shizuo tried to register all of the girl's words into his brain while thinking back of that day. Then everything became clearer and he was no longer confused.

"I see, so that's how it was."

The girl was glad that he remembers her. She looked at Tom with a curious look.

"Are you Shizuo's boss?"

She asked without hesitation as the tanned man with dreadlocks looked back at her.

"In a way. Yes, I am."

"So, what are you doing here miss... Kanzaki was it?"

"You guys can just call me Miyu-chan if you want."

The girl tilted her head with a smile on her face.

"I was just looking around and thought I'd stop by to look at the price list here."

"You came here just to look at the price of the food?"

The man in a bartender suit asks to the girls unusual statement, making sure he didn't hear it wrong.

"Yeah, I just came here to see the price of the food."

"Is something wrong with that?"

"Not really, just why would you come to a chain restaurant just to look at the prices?"

"Well it to see if their cheap or not so that I can consider it a place to eat from other places to eat."

-Is this girl poor or just cheap on money?

-Well it's none of my business so I'll leave it at that.

After Tom and Shizuo had finished eating they got read to leave and do their job. The girl that was looking at the price menu saw them leaving and went after them.

"Where are you guys going?"

"We're going to collect some debts."

The man in the bartender suit replied as he turned his gaze to the girl that was heading their way.

"Can I tag along with you guys?"

"What?"

"Please, I promise I won't get in the way."

The girl widened her eyes with a sparkly look and made a puppy pout face.

"What should we do Tom-san?"

"Well I guess it's alright."

"Really? Alright!"

The girl jumped so happily and followed the two men to collect debts.

As the three of the walked through the streets of Ikebukuro, Tom looked back to the girl that was following them from behind.

"Hey, Miyu-chan."

"Yes?"

"Why did you want to come with us?"

The girl paused for a moment lowered her head and let out a gloomy aura. At that moment Tom felt kind of uneasy and thought that he shouldn't have asked. Then she answered:

"I'm bored."

The second Tom heard her answer he felt stupid for feeling uneasy a moment ago. Then he said with a rather awkward face:

"Isn't there anything else you can do to get rid of your boredom?"

"Sure there are a lot of thing I can do to get rid of my boredom."

Her expression changed so dramatically that for some reason Tom felt mental pressure.

"But I really want to see what a debt collector goes through in their everyday job."

The girl smiled an innocent smile as if the gloomy aura that was there a second ago never appeared. Tom sighed.

-I can't keep up with this girl.

* * *

Next chapter: Debt Collecting


	3. Debt Collecting

On their way to the first 'target' the man in a bartender suit started a conversation.

"Kanzaki, you just got here last week right?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"So, are you gonna stay here for a long time or are you going soon?"

"I'll be staying here because the place where I work is here."

"What's your job? You seem pretty free to be wondering around the city if you actually have a job."

It obviously sounds like the man in the bartender suit was being sarcastic. But he had no intention to do so even if it did sound like he does. The girl replied as if she was joking:

"I may not look like it but I'm the head of a company."

She giggled as she said this. Of course no one would believe what she just said even if it was true. So did Shizuo and Tom. They figured she wanted to sound cool so they just gave a 'oh I see' expression.

When they got to their first 'target' the girl watched from a distance on how they did their job without interfering.

-Debt collectors are rougher than I thought.

She watched as a man keeled in front of the two debt collectors and begged them to give him more time. The man with dreadlocks stepped on the head of the man that was kneeling and said:

"Just how long do you intend to make us wait?"

The girl felt pity for the man that was kneeling but.

-I guess this is what they call the risks of the actions you make.

-I pity him but that's what you get when you can't return the money you borrow.

When the two debt collectors finished their business with their first 'target' they couldn't completely 'recover' all the money but they still got some and they went to the next 'target'.

The second 'target' was pretty cooperative and handed all he owed without any commotion so they continued to the third 'target'. They traced the third 'target' to his apartment. Tom went inside while Shizuo and Miyuki waited outside.

"So, why are we outside again?"

"To make sure that the 'target' doesn't escape from the window or a back door."

Shizuo answered Miyuki's question clearly. Not long after that someone was trying to jump out of a window and Shizuo caught him.

-There really is someone that's trying to escape from the window.

The girl just witnessed the scene of a man trying to escape through the window but was too big to get out. Shizuo pushed the man back in the apartment where the man had to face Tom who was waiting for him inside.

They found the forth 'target' in the office where he works and interrogated him in his office as he keeps giving excuses that he has nothing to do with the debt collectors.

"I owe you guys nothing, get out of my office."

"Be reasonable sir, working in a fancy office like this you surely have the money to pay us back what you owe."

The man still kept denying the facts. At this point Shizuo was to be the trump card but then Miyuki interrupted.

"I'm sorry Tom-san, I know I said that I won't interfere but can I talk to this man in private for a while?"

"Do you know this guy?"

"No, I don't, but please let me speak with him just for one minute."

Since the girl insisted Tom and Shizuo went out of the room and left Miyuki alone with the forth 'target'.

One minute has passed and Miyuki got out of the room. She grabbed something out of her jacket which happens to be a brown envelope as she smiled and said:

"I got the money."

She handed over the brown envelope to Tom and asked:

"Is this all he owed Tom-san?"

Tom counted the money to make sure it was the right amount.

"Yes, it is. But how did you get him to pay up?"

A smirk appeared on Miyuki's face and she said:

"Oh, a girl has her ways."

"Let's go to the last 'target' shall we."

The girl walked out of the building leaving the two debt collectors behind. They went to check the 'target' that was still in his office room and when they opened the door they saw the 'target' in the corner of the room biting his finger nails while muttering something to himself.

-What just happened?

They both thought that, since she is a girl she might have seduced him so that he would give the money but the scene their seeing doesn't seem like that any seducing happened, it looked like the man just saw a ghost or something terrifying that the man fell in shock and lost himself. The two debt collectors tried not to think about it too much and moved on to the last 'target' of the day and left the building following the girl who went ahead of them.

"Oi, what did you do to that guy?"

Shizuo asked straight forwardly to the girl in front of him. The girl crossed her arms and said with a straight face:

"I didn't do anything. I just told him a piece of my mind. That's all I did."

Figuring any more conversation would be pointless Shizuo sighed and continued walking to the last 'target'.

The last 'target' turned out to be an annoying chatterbox he keeps telling them about his so-called girlfriend that he loves so much, but can't give her the things she wants. It was clear that the girl he was talking about is just using him and taking advantage of his money.

-Damn he's annoying.

-Can't he realize that the girl is just using him?

As she muttered these thoughts in her head Shizuo had already snapped and walked towards the annoying 'target'

"Why do you like that girl?"

"I don't like her. I love her and she loves me too!"

"Oh really what has she ever done for you?"

"Well… She doesn't have to do anything because I'll do anything for her!"

The anger meter has reached the point where things usually start to fly. Shizuo grabbed a sign pole.

"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!"

"SHE'S OBVIOUSLY USING YOU!"

Shizuo swung the sign pole in his hand and hit the guy as if he was a baseball.

Miyuki just watched as Shizuo's rage took over him and started to beat the life out of the annoying 'target'. She didn't feel surprised on seeing a man being tossed here and there as the one who was known as the god of wrath with the nickname Ikebukuro's Automatic Fighting Doll, since she had heard the rumors about Heiwajima Shizuo the man in a bartender outfit.

It was odd for someone to not be surprised by the sight that she's seeing but that's how she was. Tom looked at the direction where Miyuki was standing he was surprised that the girl that has been following them all day just stood there in silence leaning on a wall with her arms crossed watching the disaster happening in front of her.

-Isn't she scared?

-I know she's kind of unique but to just look so natural while seeing Shizuo 'mad' is too odd.

The girl showed no expression on her face. The girl that easily smiled whenever she felt like it was showing an expressionless face with cold eyes. In her head she was thinking:

-If this kind of thing happens all the time, how much would it cost for the repairs?

Such thoughts ran through the girls mind seeing the scene in front of her. No one would have thought about such minor things if they were in her position, a position only about 15 meters from the cause of destruction.

* * *

How do you like the story so far?

Please review XD

Next chapter: Feelings


	4. Feelings

After a while Shizuo had calmed down. He walked to where Tom was standing and asked:

"Where's Kanzaki?"

"Huh? Wasn't she over there?"

Tom pointed out to a wall. As he looked there was no one there. He looked around to see where the girl might be but she was no where to be seen. Shizuo also looked around and couldn't see her anywhere.

-Guess she ran away after all.

-She tried to act all cool but it's not like I can blame her for running away.

Tom thought of the most possible possibility and said:

"Perhaps she went home since our job is done."

"Yeah, well since our job is done I guess I'll go home too."

The man in the bartender suit walked away and waved his hand. They both knew that the girl must have ran away due to seeing Shizuo's actions but they decided to keep quiet about it.

-I guess I won't be seeing Kanzaki again.

-It's too bad. She was pretty fun.

Shizuo the man who people feared couldn't help but feel upset that someone who was in good therms with him ran away due to his abnormal strength. There's no one to blame but himself.

As walked slowly away from where he was standing he saw a man and felt like he has seen him before. He remembered seeing his face in the list of 'wanted' people in his company that if anyone encounters them they should catch them and bring them back to the company.

"Tom-san, isn't that guy on the wanted list?"

Tom who was checking his cell phone looked at the man Shizuo was referring to.

"Yeah, that guy has a lot of debt from our company and has been running away."

The man that was 'wanted' recognized the man in the bartender suit and trembled in fear.

-This is bad. I gotta get out of here.

The man ran away as fast as he could before the two debt collectors even started to chase him. Shizuo who was in a bad mood chased him the second the 'wanted' man started running.

"Stop!"

He shouted but the 'wanted' man was already far from where he was running. The man was so fast that it was no wonder no one from the company has captured him until now.

Shizuo kept chasing the man with Tom not far behind him.

-Even if it's Hewiajima Shizuo there's no way he can catch me.

-He might be strong but it's no use if he can't catch me.

The 'wanted' man grinned while he was running. He thought that everything will be alright as long as he keeps on running but he didn't see what was going to hit him.

*Clang*

A can just flew at his direction and hit his forehead. The man held his forehead that has just been hit by a can as he keeps on running. Since he was running he didn't see that it was an empty can that just hit his head. All he knew was he had to keep running or he will be in big trouble.

Suddenly, he tripped and fell to the ground. There was nothing on the road that could have possibly trip him so why did he fall?

"You know, running away from your troubles isn't going to change anything."

He heard a voice as a girl came out of the shadows from a narrow place.

"It's only going to make everything worse."

The girl looked down at the man that was on the ground and smiled. The smile that the girl gave that man was a usual smile yet the man felt a pressuring aura from the girls smile and froze. He felt terrified by the girls smile and didn't move an inch. While the man was still sitting on the ground frozen staring at the girl Shizuo and Tom had caught up to them.

They were surprised to see someone stop the 'wanted' man but what really surprised them was that the one who stopped the 'wanted' man was Miyuki. She saw the two debt collectors as they took their breath from all the running.

"Hey guys, sorry for leaving without saying a word earlier."

The girl placed her right hand on the back of her head.

"I got a phone call and it was really noisy back there, so I went to find a quieter place."

As usual the girl was smiling as she said those words. Shizuo went and knocked the 'wanted' man until he was unconscious then held him so he wouldn't escape just in case he wakes up again. He faced Miyuki and said:

"So why didn't you come back?"

"I was going to come back but after the call I felt thirsty so I went to buy a drink first."

"I saw you chasing that guy from afar so thought I'd help you guys buy tripping him over."

It was all clear now. Miyuki was the one who threw the empty can and tripped the 'wanted' man. After hearing her explanation, somehow Shizuo felt relieved. He put on a smile and asked:

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going home now, I kind of feel tired."

Who wouldn't be tired after a long exhausting day? Shizuo went to the company to hand in the 'wanted' man and Tom walked Miyuki home since it was late and it's not good for a girl to walk all alone at night.

As Tom and Miyuki walked though the streets of Ikebukuro Tom ask:

"Miyu-chan, what do you think about Shizuo?"

"Well I think he's a nice guy even though he easily gets mad and breaks public property."

She chuckled as she pictured the sight of swinging sign poles.

"Did you know about that superhuman strength that Shizuo had before coming with us today?"

"Yes, I did."

"I did a little research and found many interesting things about Shizuo."

Without the person their talking about with them Miyuki casually dropped the honorific that she's used to address Shizuo.

"Really? What else did you find out about him besides his strength?"

"Well, I know that he hates Orihara Izaya and he fought with a bunch of slasher people."

"Don't you think he's scary?"

The girl paused and lowered her head after hearing that question. Tom thought that she was going to do something similar to what she had done earlier that day and say that Shizuo is scary in a low tone. Then girl said:

"I don't think he's scary."

Tom didn't expect her to say that and felt a bit shocked. Even he, who has known Shizuo since his third year of middle school still thinks that he's kind of scary. Miyuki looked up at the sky where she could see some stars shining.

"I just think it must be hard to be someone like him."

"Having strength that surpasses a normal human."

"Unable to control his anger and going out of control despite his will."

"Being feared by all, being completely different from everybody else."

"He never asked for any of that yet that's how it turned out."

Tom couldn't say anything after what Miyuki just said. It seemed that she knows more about Shizuo than he does. The two of them walked silently though the streets of Ikebukuro as they were headed to Miyuki's apartment.

* * *

Celty and Shinra will show up in the next chapter :D

Next chapter: Delivery


	5. Delivery

A man in a bartender suit was on his way home when he met with someone he knew. It was a black motorbike rider wearing a cat-like yellow helmet.

"Hey Celty. Heading back after work?"

The rider took a PDA from her rider suit and typed on it.

[Yes, I just finished a delivery.]

[Are you going home too?]

"Yeah, I just went through a long day."

The man in a bartender suit told the rider of what happened that day and the rider listened to him carefully. As the man in a bartender suit had finished his story the rider began to type on her PDA again.

[That girl named Kanzaki Miyuki sure has a unique personality.]

[I hope I can meet her someday.]

"Perhaps you will, since she is staying here in the city."

"I don't really know much about her but I think we can be friends."

The man in a bartender suit cracked a small smile on his face. The night grew late and as soon the man in the bartender suit and the rider finished their conversation they went their separate ways and got home.

Later that night when the rider got home she was greeted by a man wearing a white lab coat that was sitting on a sofa, waiting for her arrival. There was a laptop on top of a table that was placed in front of the sofa and as the rider sat on the sofa she began to type on the laptop.

[Is it normal for a girl to ask people she just knew if she can watch them work?]

The man in the lab coat read the words that appeared on the laptop's screen.

Well I wouldn't say that it's usual but there are possibilities that could make it normal.

"For example there is a girl that wants to be a model. She meets someone that is actually a model and asks that person if she can watch that person work. I guess you could say that it could be either normal or not depending on the reason. Why did you ask that all of a sudden?"

"Could it be that you want to watch me as I work?"

The man said in a teasing tone.

"Ah, but you said 'someone that she just knew' so that couldn't be the reason."

The man concluded and put on a disappointed expression on his face as the rider typed on the laptop again.

[It's nothing, I was just wondering since I just heard about someone like that.]

The next day around 8 am in the apartment where the rider lived, the phone rang. The man in a lab coat picked up the phone and answered it. Not long after the man hung up the phone he walked to the rider and gave her a piece of paper.

"You've got a job."

After the rider accepted the piece of paper and looked at it the man in a lab coat explained to her about the job that she was assigned to. The rider went out of the apartment with her black motorbike and began to do her job as a transporter.

The job was that she had to go to a certain place to pick up a certain item and deliver it to another certain place without damaging the object. It must have been something really important or something illegal since the client didn't just make the delivery through the post office. It was the rider's job to deliver these kinds of things.

On the piece of paper that the man in a lab coat gave her there were two addresses written on it. She went to the first address and received a brown box. The box was as big as a shoe box and wasn't very heavy. The person who gave the box to the rider told her to give it to a girl wearing a green and white striped shirt with long sleeves. The rider headed to the next address written on the piece of paper without question, but she couldn't help but think what was in the box and why is the person she's supposed to deliver it to is a girl wearing casual clothes. Usually she has to deliver the object to a man in a suit or some yakuza people like the Awakusu-kai.

The rider arrived at the next address and it was a tall office building. Everyone in the building were wearing office suits like every office people would wear to go to work. The rider doubted that she could find a girl wearing casual clothes in such a place.

-Is there really a girl wearing a green and white striped shirt with long sleeves in a place like this?

The rider went in the building and got on the elevator to go to the 15th floor. Just like the first floor, everyone wore office suits. On the piece of paper that the rider had brought with her it was also written that the location was in the president's room. She saw a door that had the words 'President's Office' written on it. It was odd that nobody had stopped or asked the rider for what purpose she was there. She didn't have to deal with the reception table that was on the first floor nor did anyone stare at her for being so out of place. She just simply went to the door where she had to deliver the package and knocked on it.

"Come in."

A voice of a girl was heard from inside the room then the rider opened the door and saw a girl wearing a green and white striped shirt with long sleeves sitting in front of a desk filled with papers as she was looking at them one by one. The girl looked completely out of place just as the rider did. The room was a huge modern office filled with furniture and books.

-Don't tell me that this girl is actually the president of this company.

-She looks way too young to be running a company.

The rider walked up to the girl sitting in front of a desk and gave her the package. The girl put down the papers she was holding and took the package.

"Thank you for your hard work."

The girl smiled and stood up from where she was sitting as she held the package in her hands.

"I wonder what's inside this box?"

The rider typed on a PDA and showed what she typed to the girl in front of her.

[Don't you know what's inside it already?]

The girl tilted her head and gave a confused expression. The rider deleted what she had typed and typed something new.

[You were the one who sent me to deliver this package to you, right?]

"Oh, yes, I did."

"But I don't know what's inside this box."

The girl laughed as if she just heard a funny joke then she stopped for a moment and said:

"Please sit down and you can take off your helmet since we're indoors"

The girl pointed to a sofa that was placed in the middle of the room with a table placed in front of it. The rider sat down as the girl took a brown envelope from one of the book shelves in that room.

"Aren't you going to take off you helmet?"

[It's fine. I'll just keep it on.]

"But I insist. It must be uncomfortable for you to wear a full-face helmet indoors."

The rider was used to wearing her helmet indoors so it wasn't uncomfortable for her but the girl in front of her doesn't seem like she would take no for an answer.

[It's really alright. Besides you'll be shocked if I take my helmet off.]

"It's natural for people to take off their hats or helmets when indoors and I wouldn't be shocked if you do so. But if I were to be shocked and screamed when you take off your helmet I will double the pay and if I faint I'll even triple the pay."

The girl said those words with a confident look. The rider could no longer refuse to take off the helmet she was wearing.

-This is bad. What if she really does faint?

-It would probably give me the merit but what if she gets too scared and doesn't pay me at all?

The rider hesitated to take off her helmet but seeing that the girl was waiting for her to take it off she gave in and took the helmet off.

* * *

Next chapter: Not Normal


	6. Not Normal

When the rider had took off her helmet there was an unusual sight. There was nothing above the rider's neck.

The rider, Celty Struluson was not human. She was a dullahan, a Scottish or Irish fairy that knocked on the doors of the dying and warned them of their impending death. But she certainly does not remember. She lost the memories as to what she was when her head was stolen in her homeland. That was the reason she followed the scent of its presence all the way to Ikebukuro.

The room was silent.

-Did she faint already?

-But I didn't hear a falling sound so she must still be standing.

The rider wasn't looking at the girl after she took her helmet off. She was looking at the opposite direction from where the girl was standing so she didn't see what the girl was doing. She turned to look if the girl was so shocked that she couldn't speak but when she saw the girl she was busy looking out the window. The girl seemed like she was looking at someone that was down the building.

-She's not looking at me.

-No wonder she didn't make a sound.

After a moment of silent the girl said:

"So I'm sure you've taken off your helmet by now."

The girl turned her gaze to the rider that was not far behind her and saw that the rider was headless. The girl gasped.

"You must be that urban legend."

-…..

"The headless rider that started to show up in Ikebukuro 20 years ago, right?"

-…..?

"I knew it. I guess I was right when I thought that you aren't just an ordinary transporter."

The girl placed her hand on her chin as she complemented herself.

This isn't the first time that someone wasn't scared to see what creature she really is, but it's the first time that someone bluntly claimed that she was the headless rider. It's the first time she met this girl and she just took off her helmet. She kind of felt that her abnormality was being ignored at the same time that it wasn't.

"My name is Kanzaki Miyuki. Do you have a name?"

And just like that the girl introduced herself.

-Isn't that the girl Shizuo told me about last night?

-To actually meet her like this I kind of get what Shizuo meant back then that she is unusual.

The rider typed on her PDA.

[My name is Celty Struluson.]

"It's nice to meet you."

The girl smiled as if she was just talking to a usual person.

[Aren't you scared?]

"Not really, I've always been a person that believes in the possibilities for the existence of unusual things like ghosts and such even if I've never seen one before. But now, it's the first time I actually saw one."

The girl seemed excited to meet Celty who isn't human.

The girl started a conversation with the rider asking about how she came to Ikebukuro and about her life as a transporter. After they finished talking the rider gave the girl a question.

[What were you looking at when I took off my helmet?]

"It was nothing. I was just looking at someone I know that happened to be wondering around in front of the building."

[Someone you know.]

"Yeah, he's my guardian. I guess he's worried about me and that he wanted to make sure that you've delivered the package or not."

-Her guardian? Does that mean she really is as young as she appears?

-I think she's older than she looks since she is the head of a company.

-I'll just ask her to make sure.

[How old are you?]

"I'm 19."

[So you're the daughter of the head of this company?]

"Nope, I am the head of this company. I know I'm still young and all to be the head of a company so people usually think like that."

-No way, is she serious?

"You still find it hard to believe it don't you?"

-How did she know that?

-Can she read my mind like Shiki from the Awakusu-kai?

"Yes, I can."

[What are you talking about?]

"You were thinking that I can read your mind. Well I can tell from your body language and you can say that I have a pretty sharp sixth sense when it comes to reading people's hearts or feelings."

-She really can do that.

"By the way there's something I want to ask you."

[What is it?]

"Can I call you Celty-chan?"

-….?

It was the first time someone has addressed Celty with a 'chan' usually those who know her would just call her Celty or Celty-san but never was she called Celty-chan.

[Well I don't mind.]

"Great. Then you can call me Miyu-chan if you'd like to."

As the time passed and they had finished their conversation Miyuki paid Celty three times from the agreement.

[Isn't this too much? And you didn't faint either.]

Celty said with a little joke.

"Just take it. Think of it as a bonus for chatting with me today because it did take a lot of time."

Celty didn't realize that they had talked so much that it was already late and the sun was starting to go down. Celty went home while Miyuki stayed inside the room.

A man with a couple of papers in his hand entered the room.

"Excuse me Kanzaki-sama, here are the files you have to sign."

"Ah, just put them on my desk."

The man placed the papers on the girl's desk.

"Sorry to call you in for work when your were supposed to be on a vacation."

The man bowed as he apologized to the girl.

"It's ok, these things often happen anyway so I'm used to it. Besides since I'm staying in Ikebukuro now there's no problem for me to come here when things like this happens."

The girl sat down on a chair and signed the papers that the man had placed on her desk.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, it is. Thanks again for coming today."

"Well, I'm going back to my apartment now. And thank you for your hard work."

The girl left the room and went back to her apartment.

* * *

I do not know what a boss of a company actually does XP

Next chapter: The Girl's Past


	7. The Girl's Past

A girl was looking out the window from her apartment.

-I wonder what I should do today since I'm on vacation and Ikebukuro is such an interesting city.

The girl cracked a smile as she thought about all of the things that she has experienced since she arrived at the city. She was still thinking on what to do for the day as she looked up at the sky.

-I guess I'll go to that Russia Sushi place I saw the other day. It seems interesting.

The girl got dressed in a black and blue square patterned shirt and long gray pants and headed for the Russia Sushi restaurant.

Kanzaki Miyuki was a cheerful girl that would often change her personality depending on her mood. She can be very kind but she can also be very brute. She can be strict and cheap when it comes to money but she can also be very generous to treat all of her friends out for lunch and they can eat all they want. Sometimes she's very quite then again sometimes she talks too much. All of her actions depend on her mood. But if you were to make her seriously angry, she'll make you regret it.

The girl was normal yet she was also weird at the same time so, she still had many friends when she was in school. But even though she had many friends she only had a few true friends. The kind of friend that you can depend on whenever the times are rough.

The girl was born to a wealthy family. She never had any problems in getting what she wanted. All she had to do was say what she wanted and someone would buy it for her but even so she wasn't greedy nor did she turn out to be a spoiled princess. She was a nice little girl that had everything except love. The girl's parents loved their only daughter very much but they are too busy with their work that they can't spend time with her. The girl felt a little lonely even with all the maids and servants to accompany her.

By the time the girl was three years old she was already able to read books without pictures. Some would call her a genius or a prodigy but no one really knew what she was capable of. Since her parents are always busy at work she spent most of the time in the library reading books. She was intelligent and smart but she never really showed it in front of people.

The girl had one personal servant that is always there to watch over her. His name was Takahiko. He was 68 years old. He always followed the girl wherever she went to be available to assist her when she needed him. He usually helps the girl when there is a book she can't reach other than that he brings her tea when she's reading and accompanies her when she wants to go for a walk outside the house.

It was almost her 4th birthday but her parents couldn't celebrate it with her because of their work. The girl didn't throw a tantrum or wined about it. She just said:

"It's alright. I know you two are very busy."

And smiled at her parents. From the very beginning she didn't expect for her parents to be able to celebrate it with her anyway so it didn't really bother her. She loved her parents and she knows that her parents also loved her even if they never really showed it to her.

On the 4th of April it was her birthday. She went on a picnic with some of the servants and maids. She spent her day at a quiet beach. It was her first time going to the beach and she felt very happy that day. Her parents called her in the morning and told her that they would come if they had some spare time but by the end of the day they never showed up.

That night the girl felt thirsty and she didn't want to bother others by waking them up so she decided to go to the kitchen by herself and get a glass of water. It was dark so she brought a flash light with her and by the time she got to the living room she saw two people. Those people were her parents and they had come home to give the girl her birthday present. But then she saw another person behind them. She had no idea who that person was but she had a bad feeling about it.

She tried warned her parents but it was too late. That person was an assassin that was sent to kill the girl's parents by a rival company of her parents. The assassin started to slaughter her parents as the girl watched from a distance. Before the girl's parents were slaughtered she heard them say something in a faint voice.

"Run."

That's what she heard but she didn't run. The girl just stood there being unable to move from the shock of seeing such a terrible sight.

The assassin didn't kill the girl and spared her life because he was only told to kill the girl's parents. Not long after the assassin left the police showed up because of the trespasser alert that was installed in the house. By that time the girl's parents could no longer be recognizable. It was a terrifying sight.

On the day of the girl's parent's funeral a lot of people showed up but the girl didn't know any of them and after the funeral ceremony was over a lot of the people that showed up told the girl their regards. That day was a very gloomy and rainy day when the ceremony was in progress the girl didn't show a sad face. She showed an expressionless face while people kept whispering.

"It must be a real shock for her."

"Poor little girl."

She heard those words but decided to ignore them. When everyone had left the graveyard the girl and her personal servant was still standing beside the girl's parent's graves. The girl didn't cry, she didn't even shed a tear.

"I'm truly sorry Miyuki-sama."

The servant said with the sound of guilt in his voice.

"I should've been there to protect you and your parents. If there was to be someone who died, it should have been me."

The girl kept quiet for a few seconds and said:

"It's not your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"But-"

"I'm fine."

The girl turned around to face her servant and smiled. If anyone else were to experience what she had saw they wouldn't have been able to smile, neither if it was an adult especially if it was a child like her. But she just smiled as if nothing had happened and everything was alright.

"Everyone will eventually die. Even you and me, so don't blame yourself for not being able to protect mom and dad."

Her words were wise like as if she was an old man but she was just a little girl. The servant was surprised on how well she was handling the situation but he assumed that the girl will eventually cry when no one is looking but she didn't.

Not long after her parents death all of the servants and maids that worked in the mansion left to find a new job. There were only two servants that remained loyal to the girl and stayed. It was her personal servant Takahiko and the other servant was Akira a young man that the girl asked to work at the mansion as a servant. Akira just started working in the mansion a few months ago but that's another story.

Besides the death of the girl's parents there were other events that would make bad memories for people. A friend she got along with when she was 5 years old died because of a car accident, her friend was hit by a speeding car in front of her eyes. Takahiko her personal servant died due to illness by the time she was 7 years old.

Even after experiencing all those terrifying things the girl was still able to live her life like everyone else. The girl was given the rights to own the company that her parents ran but she gave the job of being the principal to someone that she could trust and has worked in the company for quite some time. There were a lot of other events that happened to the girl from encountering other people but that's a different story.

* * *

I guess I made a little to much death in this story -_-'

I have no idea about how companys work so I just made it up XP

Next chapter: Love Talk


	8. Love Talk

**In Front Of Russia Sushi**

Miyuki just arrived at Russia Sushi and saw a tall black man dressed as a sushi chef handing out pamphlets. She didn't see him the other day when she passed the restaurant because he was working inside. She walked up to the tall black man dressed as a sushi chef, he gave her a pamphlet and she took it.

"Come eat, sushi good. Sushi fresh. Fish just got out of the cans this morning."

Miyuki chuckled over hearing the black man's funny Japanese.

"Is it expensive? Since the sushi is so good and fresh."

She asked with a little sarcasm.

"No, no. Sushi good, sushi cheap. Buy sushi. Trying once won't kill you. Eat, eat, eat sushi."

The black man said in a friendly manner but it didn't feel all that friendly.

-Trying once won't kill me? Does that mean if I eat too much it can kill me?

"Ok then I'll try it."

Miyuki just smiled and entered the restaurant. She sat beside a man wearing a white lab coat at the sushi bar. She ordered a portion of salmon sushi and waited for her order to come. The man that sat beside her started talking to himself all of a sudden.

"I wish I could bring her out for lunch every now and then but she doesn't eat much so I guess that's impossible."

The man wearing a lab coat looked depressed as he talked to himself. His voice sounded familiar somehow to Miyuki. Where did she hear that voice before. Her memory was very sharp so she remembered whose voice it was. It was the voice of the person that received her phone call when she hired Celty to deliver her a package yesterday.

"Excuse me but, could you be Kishitani Shinra?"

The man wearing a lab coat looked at the girl beside her with a surprised expression.

"Yes, I am. How did you know who I was?"

"Celty-chan told me about you yesterday after she delivered the package."

Celty told Shinra what happened that day so he is aware that the girl knew about what creature Celty is.

"Oh, so you were the one who called yesterday. Celty told me about what happened yesterday. I was pretty surprised myself about how you acted back then. If I remember correctly, your Miyu-chan right?"

"Yes, I am."

The salmon sushi that Miyuki had ordered was given to her. She ate the sushi before continuing their conversation.

"So, Shinra-san. You were talking about going out to eat lunch with someone earlier. Was the person you were talking about Celty-chan?"

"Ah, yes. I was talking about bringing Celty out for lunch but she doesn't really eat so I don't think that will happen. But I did go out with her to eat dinner here once. I ordered 2 portions of sushi and ate them all since Celty can't eat. Come to think of it you just ate 2 portions of sushi yourself. You must be pretty hungry haha…. The sushi I ate was kind of weird."

"Hahaha…. By the way Shinra-san are you busy now?"

"No, I'm not."

"I think we should go somewhere else to chat, because it might disturb the other customers that are eating here."

A man that was standing behind the counter took the empty plates that were filled with salmon sushi a while ago.

"I'm glad that someone is actually concerned about my business and doesn't go on chatting with a man that that looks like his from the Health Bureau or something."

After that, the girl and the man wearing a lab coat went out of the restaurant. The man wearing a lab coat seemed annoyed by what the man behind the counter said, but the girl beside him just giggled as they went out.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, but do you always wear a lab coat wherever you go?"

"Ahh, that's because Celty always wears her black rider suit. If I'm dressed in the contrasting color, we'll be like light and shadow, won't we? On the surface light and shadow are polar opposites, yet like a pair of love birds they never appear without each other! In manga and movies they always go the Dark Side this and the Dark Side that, but that's just the Dark Side being royally tsundere. You can say that being tsundere is another form of being possessive but I won't mind at all if Celty wants to possess me bofuu!"

The girl just listened to the man in white.

"Hey, why don't we just chat at my apartment?"

"Sure, I'd love to know what kind of place you and Celty-chan lives."

**An upscale apartment building on the side of Kawagoe Highway**

Miyuki and Shinra have arrived at Shinra's apartment. Being a good host Shinra prepared tea for the guest.

"So, Miyu-chan. What makes you interested in Celty? I know that she's headless and anyone would be curious to know about her but what's your reason?"

"Hmmm….you could say that it's just my curiosity. I like knowing about new things and Celty-chan is very interesting, and I think she's very cute."

Shinra sipped his tea.

"Of course she is. Celty might not have a head, but she doesn't need one either. She's perfect just the way she is. Celty is strong, she can take care of herself, but that doesn't mean she's not afraid of anything. She fears aliens would invade the world one day, so she keeps watching these shows about aliens and stuff even though she's afraid of it. She said that it's so she would be prepared when the real thing happens, but I don't think that it's going to. Do you believe in aliens Miyu-chan?"

"All I can say is that I'm not sure. I don't deny the existence of ghost, spirits, or other creatures like Celty, but if you ask me about aliens or UFOs I don't know. I don't really believe in them, but if I were to see one with my own eyes then I won't deny it."

"Well anyway talking about Celty, that part of her is what makes her cute, but even if she wasn't scared of aliens she's still cute without saying. I can stay by Celty's side forever because I know best of all people just how cute she is."

Shinra said with a madly-in-love expression.

"Now I can see why Celty-chan said that you're kind of a freak."

"What? Celty said that to you? …Well whatever. If expressing my love for Celty makes me a freak, than a freak I shall be. Freakiness too will transform into love."

Miyuki laughed by hearing Shinra's statement about freakiness and love, but Shinra didn't care.

"So, Miyu-chan, do you have a lover or someone you love?"

"No, I don't"

She gave a short straight forward answer.

"You don't? I thought you had one. Oh, I get it you broke up with your boyfriend so now you have no one you love."

"No, that's not it. I don't have a boyfriend and I never had one."

"That's kind of surprising, because you're a pretty girl, not as pretty as Celty though. Weren't you popular when you were at school?"

"Yeah, I was pretty popular. I used to get a lot of love letters in my shoe box and under my desk, sometimes some random guy that I don't really know about asks me out every now and then but I dumped them all."

"You dumped them all?"

"Yep, I dumped them all. How can I accept the feelings of someone I barely know? Besides most of the guys that asked me out just liked me because I'm pretty. I bet if they know what kind of girl I really am they wouldn't even dare to ask me out. Those guys don't even know what I like and they have the nerves to say that they love me."

Miyuki said as she showed a really annoyed expression.

"Ah, I see. So, what you're looking for is true love like mine and Celty's. But what did you mean by the kind of girl you really are? Are you not human like Celty?"

"No, no, I'm human. What I meant was that they don't know that I can be pretty scary and brute sometimes."

* * *

Note: some of the quotes in this chapter are from the original light novel that was translated by anni-san on livejournal

Next chapter: Delinquents


	9. Delinquents

Note: It's still the same day as chapter 8

and for those who don't know Baka means Idiot

* * *

**Ikebukuro**

In this city, there are people who band together and commit violent acts from time to time. Each group has their own color that they represent, and people refer to them as color gangs. Even so there haven't been many color gangs in the city lately, but the group that has been spreading their influence lately doesn't have a certain color. If you had to say, they're transparent or colorless. That's the color of the Dollars.

**South Ikebukuro Park**

A boy wearing a Raira Academy uniform was sitting on a bench.

The boy's name was Ryuugamine Mikado.

He was sitting with a man wearing casual clothing and was drinking a can of soda.

"Excuse me, Kuroba-san. What kind of place are you looking for?"

The man finished his drink and tossed the can into a trash bin that wasn't far from the bench they were sitting on.

"I'm just looking for a place where I can stay in for a few days with a cheap price."

"Do you have some business here in Ikebukuro?"

"Not really, I'm just looking for a friend of mine."

They both stood up and went to look for a place where the man can stay.

**30 Minutes Ago**

The boy just got out of a convenience store after buying some food supplies. As the boy walked through the streets of Ikebukuro he got dragged and cornered by a gang of delinquents when he passed by an alleyway. The delinquents told the boy to give all his money to them, but he didn't have any money left after he spent all the money he had on him for the food supplies that he just bought.

"I-I'm sorry but, I don't have any money."

"You gotta be kidding me!"

"Don't you know that we're the Dollars? Just give us some money and we're not gonna hurt you kid."

The boy was the person who created the Dollars with some of his online friends. He was surprised that the people in front of him claimed to be part of the Dollars. He couldn't be sure if what they said was true or not, that they're a part of the Dollars, because even a lot of people who aren't Dollar members often to claim themselves as one.

The delinquents have lost their patience and one of them had held his fists up high to hit the boy but when the delinquent's fist almost hit the boy on the face, he was stopped. A man that wasn't part of the delinquent's gang had stopped the delinquent from hitting the boy. He wore a black plain shirt and black pants, his hair was also black.

"It's not good to bully kids ya'know."

"What the!"

The man held the delinquent's arm to prevent it from hitting the boy. There were five delinquents and none of them felt his presents before he stopped the delinquent that tried to hit the boy.

"You bastard! Don't you know that we're the Dollars?"

One of the other delinquents delivered a punch directed to the man's stomach, but the man released the arm he was holding and dodged the punch. He raised his foot, and kicked that delinquent down.

"The Dollars? What's that, some kind of money collecting group?"

The man gave a sarcastic look as he cracked a wide and wicked smile. The other delinquents started to attack him all at once as they circled around him, but they ended up bumping and attacking each other when the man had jumped to avoid their attacks and landed on top of the piling delinquents.

The man had 'finished off' all of the delinquents in less than one minute. The boy who was just standing there approached the man and thanked him.

"Thank you for saving me. How can I possibly repay you?"

The boy bowed down.

"Well, if you want to repay me then 5000 yen would be enough. 1000 yen for each person I knocked out and that's a really cheap price."

The boy was surprised. That was not the kind of 'repay' that he meant. He put on a troubled face and said:

"B-but I don't have any money. I-if you w-want I have money at my place, but I don't have as much as 5000 yen."

The man just laughed when he heard the boy's words. He patted the boy's head and said:

"I was just joking, don't take it so seriously like that."

The boy sighed in relief that he didn't really have to pay the man for saving him.

"Oh, but, can you help me to find a place to stay?"

"Sure I can. Umm…my name is Ryuugamine Mikado, nice to meet you."

The boy bowed down again.

"You don't have to be so formal. My name is Kuroba Kazuo, nice to meet you too."

**Present Time, Somewhere In The Streets Of Ikebukuro**

"Thanks for helping me find a place to stay kid."

"You're welcome."

"Be careful on you way home."

Mikado left and went home. The man took a piece of gum from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and chewed on it.

-Now, I wonder where that girl might be?

It's already afternoon and Miyuki just left Shinra's apartment. As she walked through the streets she saw a familiar look. It was a man in a bartender suit smoking on the side of the street as everyone passed by. She approached the man.

"Hey Shizuo-san. Taking a break from work?"

The man in the bartender suit looked at the girl in front of him and puffed his smoke.

"Ah, it's you Kanzaki. Well actually Tom-san said that we're finished for today, so now I'm just killing my time."

Miyuki didn't say anything after that, she just moved to Shizuo's side that was 'killing' his time and stood there. After a few minutes passed, Miyuki suddenly clapped her hands and said:

"Oh, I know."

She took a step forward and stood in front of Shizuo. She leaned down, put her pointed her finger up and put on a big smile.

"Would you like to go somewhere and eat some cake?"

Shizuo looked down at the girl. He lit out his cigarette by putting it in a paper bag that he had and sighed.

"What's with that question all of a sudden?"

"Well I was thinking of going to a pastry shop I saw a few days ago and thought that you might want to come along with me since you're just killing time. If you want to come then the treats on me, so you can eat all you want."

Shizuo didn't respond and just walked pass her. She turned around and watched him at him as he walked away.

"Eh?"

-Did I say something wrong? Maybe he doesn't like cakes.

Shizuo stopped and looked back at Miyuki who was just standing there in confusion.

"Let's get going. Weren't you going to treat me?"

"Y-yes. Let's get going, shall we."

On Miyuki and Shizuo's way to the pastry shop someone called out to Miyuki from behind.

"Oi, Miyu, long time no see."

It was a voice that Miyuki knew. They both looked back to see who it was and they saw that it was a man wearing black clothes, for a second Shizuo thought that it was Izaya, seeing that the man was in all black clothing like his arch enemy and all, but he wasn't. The man in black was taller than Izaya, he was about the same height as Shizuo and he had thick spiky hair. The man was now standing right behind them as they turned their bodies to face the man.

"Baka it's you."

POW the man gave a light hit on Miyuki's head.

"Ouch!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

The man in black looked annoyed.

"Heh, but that is your name in a sort of way right?"

The man got even more annoyed. He placed his hands on Miyuki's cheeks and pinched them.

"I don't care what kind of stupid logic that you use, no one else ever thought about that but you, so just stop calling me that!"

"Alright, alright I give."

The man let go of her cheeks and put his hands in his pockets.

"Gosh Kazu, you didn't have to pinch me."

Miyuki pouted as she rubbed her red cheeks. The man in black shook his head and sighed.

"It's your fault for calling me that in the first place. I thought you'd be a little nicer and wouldn't fool around since it's been a while since we last met. But I guess that's just how you are. By the way, who is this guy?"

"Oh right, let me introduce you guys."

Miyuki pointed to the man in black and faced Shizuo.

"This guy here is a friend of mine, his name is Kuroba Kazuo but I just call him Kazu."

Then she pointed at Shizuo and faced Kazuo.

"He's Heiwajima Shizuo a debt collector. I met him when I just got here and he helped me out when I got lost."

"Nice to meet you Shizuo-kun."

"Nice to meet you too."

"So, where were you two going?"

"We were going to a pastry shop and I'm treating. Why don't you come too?"

"Sure, I'd love to be treated."

So the three of them headed to the pastry shop together.

* * *

I just found out about the meaning of Miyuki' and Kazuo's name.

Miyuki is a common japanese name and has a lot of meanings depending on how it's written such as:

beautiful fortunebeautiful happinessdeep snowbeautiful snowbeautiful reason for historyhappinessgood fortune

Kanzaki means God Cape

Kuroba can mean Clover or Black Feather depending on how it's written

Kazuo means Man of Peace

Next chapter: Sweet Conversation


	10. Sweet Conversation

Please review/comment and tell me what you think about the story and characters because I kind of feel like spamming FF by posting so many short chapters that only have 2 reviews so far.

* * *

**In A Pastry Shop**

Miyuki, Shizuo, and Kazuo had arrived at the pastry shop and they were reading the menu to order something. They looked like an odd trio sitting together at one table. A girl who looked like a tomboy, a man wearing everything black from his head to his toes that seemed to be a delinquent, and a man in a bartender suit and sunglasses. Some might think that the man in a bartender suit is a waiter even though he was a customer. After they placed their orders, they waited for it to come and Miyuki began a conversation.

"So, Kazu, when did you get to Ikebukuro?"

"I just got here this morning. I had a hard time finding a good place to stay that was within my budget."

"How long are you going to be here? And have you found a place to stay now?"

"I'll only be here for a day or two and I already found a place to stay. A high school kid helped me out because I saved him from a gang of delinquents."

Miyuki place her right arm on the table and leaned her head on her hand.

"Fighting on your first day in a new city, that's just like you."

"It's not like I started it. Are there a lot of delinquents in this city anyway?"

"I don't know about that because this is only the forth time I wondered around the city."

Miyuki sat up strait then leaned on her seat and looked towards Shizuo.

"You should know more about that, since you've been here for a long time, right Shizuo-kun?"

Shizuo fixed his glasses.

-Doesn't she usually call me with a 'san'? And now she's suddenly calling me with a 'kun'.

-Maybe she's just copying Kuroba by calling me with a 'kun'. Well it doesn't really matter as long as she doesn't call me with a 'chan'

"There are a lot of bastards like that around here. There used to be a lot of color gangs lurking around the city but they don't show up anymore since some incident in Saitama or something."

"I see, I guess I better watch out so I don't get involve with those kinds of people. Even though it's not really a problem for me but I don't really like fighting all that much. Can you fight if some delinquents bothered you Shizuo-kun?"

"I could send them flying if they make me mad, but I don't like violence."

A waiter came to their table bringing them the drinks they have ordered and place each dink in front of them. Miyuki ordered lemon tea, Shizuo ordered vanilla milkshake, and Kazuo ordered strawberry juice.

"Your other orders will be sent to you soon, so please wait a little longer."

The waiter bowed down and went back to the kitchen to serve the other customers. The three of them sipped their drinks as they waited for the food to come.

"Shizuo-kun, do you often eat cake and sweets?"

Kazuo had no idea that what Shizuo said before the waiter came was true, he didn't really think that Shizuo could possibly send a person flying, so he just started a new topic from what they were talking about earlier.

"I don't eat cake or sweets too often but I always drink milk."

"I see, milk is good for people of all age, but some immature people like to say that milk is only for kids. I like milk but I prefer it with a strawberry flavor."

Kazuo sipped his strawberry juice.

"Come to think of it I've always wondered."

He turned he gaze towards Miyuki that was stirring her lemon tea.

"Why don't you like strawberry flavored food or drinks but you like strawberries, Miyu?"

"Strawberries and strawberry flavored food and drinks have a totally different taste. Real strawberries have a sweet yet sour flavor, but strawberry flavored food and drinks only taste sweet and have no sourness what so ever, except for yogurt that is."

She stopped stirring her drink and leaned on her chair as she crossed her arms.

"Besides, why do you like strawberry flavored things anyway? It's like strawberry is your favorite flavor of all."

Kazuo grinned.

"I like strawberry flavored food and drinks for the very reason you don't like it."

There was an arrogant tone in his voice.

"Strawberries are sweet and sour and I like it, but the sweetness that is in strawberry flavored food and drinks are what makes them delicious. I thought that every girl would think the same way about strawberries like I do, but you're always different and unique when it comes to things that a girl usually likes, right?"

"Well sorry for being so unladylike."

Miyuki said in an annoyed sarcastic voice then turned her face away and Kazuo sighed.

"It would be nice if you were to act more like a girl, than going about everything on your own pace for once in a while. Don't you think so Shizuo-kun?"

His gaze turned to Shizuo that just sat there as the two of them were talking. Shizuo cleared his throat.

"Don't drag me in to your problems."

Kazuo turned his gaze back at Miyuki that was still looking away from him.

"Whatever, do as you like. It's not like you ever hear what I say when it's about your general unladylike manners."

Miyuki rolled her eyes to look at Kazuo while her face was still facing a different direction from where he was, then the waiter has came and brought the food that they ordered. Miyuki ordered a cheese cake, brownies, and a coffeecake. Kazuo ordered a strawberry cake and a strawberry creampuff. Shizuo just ordered a chocolate cake.

"Thank you for your order, please enjoy your meal."

The waiter went to the kitchen again.

"My, my you sure ordered a lot. You're going to get fat if you always eat that much sweets, you know."

"Shut up, you sugar loving strawberry freak!"

"Hehehe….If I'm a sugar loving strawberry freak then you're the cold sour princess."

Miyuki loved sour food and drinks more than she liked sweet things, she also loved ice cubes, so she's often called cold sour princess by Kazuo when they eat in a café or a pastry shop like this one.

"I can eat whatever I want, when I want to. Besides I'm paying anyway."

Kazuo had forgot that all the orders were going to be paid by Miyuki so he just stopped talking even though he still a few words in mind that he wanted to say, but he didn't say it because he didn't want to risk losing his free meal. In the past Miyuki had once ended up not paying his share because what he said went over the edge of her patience, when she had offered to treat him and he didn't bring any money. Then he ended up washing dishes for three hours.

After they had finished eating Miyuki excused herself to go to the bathroom, leaving Kazuo and Shizuo both at the table.

"Shizuo-kun."

Shizuo that was closing his eyes with his arms crossed as he waited for Miyuki to come back opened his eyes and looked up at Kazuo.

"What is it?"

"How much do you know about Miyu?"

Shizuo closed his eyes again as thought of what to say to answer Kazuo's question.

"I don't really know much about her, this is the third time we've met, and the first time we met, I didn't even know that she was a girl."

Shizuo replied with a plain expression. Kazuo didn't seem surprised that Shizuo had mistaken Miyuki for a guy when they first met since she is a tomboy.

"So, what do you think about her personality? Do you think she's kind of weird or anything?"

-What's with this guy? Why is he interrogating me all of a sudden once Kanzaki isn't around?

Shizuo felt kind of annoyed being interrogated by Kazuo, but it's not like he's said anything wrong yet, so Shizuo's angry meter hasn't passed the boiling point yet.

"I admit that she isn't your typical average everyday girl, but she's a nice girl and it seems like she's a little hyperactive sometimes. Why do you keep asking me questions about Kanzaki?"

Shizuo put on a face filled with suspicion. Kazuo let out a sigh.

"Sorry if I seem to be asking too much, it's just that it seems like Miyu has taken an interest in you. Not the kind of personal like interest, but more like the 'this guy seems interesting' interest, and-"

"I'm back."

Kazuo's last words were cut of by Miyuki that has come back from the bathroom.

"So, what did I miss?"

"It's nothing, we were just talking about some random stuff."

Kazuo talked as if what they were talking about was really just some random things and Miyuki tilted her head.

"Ah, there's something I have to take care of today so I'll take my leave."

"Ok, see you soon."

Kazuo walked out of the pastry shop and Miyuki waved at him.

* * *

I just named the cakes randomly XP

I don't think that the name of this chapter fully suits it -_-'

Next chapter: Point Of View


	11. Point Of View

**At The Streets Of Ikebukuro**

Miyuki and Shizuo were walking through the streets after their stop at the pastry shop. Shizuo felt kind of happy that Miyuki was still walking with him, even though he has no idea why she was still walking with him. He had thanked the girl for treating him, but for some reason she was still tagging along with him.

Miyuki, the girl that was with Shizuo never seemed to show any signs of fear when she was around him, even after seeing him go on a rampage in front of her very own eyes, she acted so natural just as if nothing had happened. As if she didn't see anything. He wondered if she just chose to forget about it or was she just pretending that it never happened.

Heiwajima Shizuo was an existence in Ikebukuro that you 'simply must not pick a fight with'. It doesn't matter even if you're an assassin, a killing monster, the president, an alien, a vampire or a headless monster, you simply must not pick a fight with him.

Miyuki stopped on her tracks and said:

"Shizuo-kun, would you like to come with me to my favorite place in this city?"

She asked with her usual bright smile. She has been in this city for 9 days, in such a short amount of time she already had a favorite place? Those where the thoughts that filled Shizuo's head at that very moment. He scratched the back of his head.

"Since I have nothing else to do, I guess I'll go with you."

"Great, then let's go to Sunshine 60."

Sunshine 60 is a 60-story mix-used skyscraper.

**Sunshine 60, Sky Deck**

The next thing Shizuo knew was that he was on the roof of Sunshine 60, the sky deck where visitors usually come to look around and take pictures of the city. He could feel the strong breeze of the night wind. Miyuki was standing not far from where Shizuo was, they were at the edge of the sky deck. Miyuki stretched her arms in the air as she took a deep breath. She looked down and looked at the view of the city.

"Isn't this a nice place to hang out?"

"Yeah. You sure like high places don't you?"

"Well being in a high place makes me feel more comfortable for some reason. It gives me a calm and nice feeling and the view here is good too."

Shizuo also viewed the city. He felt really happy hanging out with Miyuki. Usually the only people he could hang out with are Tom or Celty with Shinra in additional because he always talks about his love life with Celty and stuff that can irritate him. A lot of people feared him and some even try their best to avoid him, while some other people like to gang up on him to try and take the title as the 'strongest' in Ikebukuro but all have failed.

Unlike Kadota Kyohei or Yumasaki Walker, Shizuo was always alone whenever he caused trouble, he felt kind of lonely. He wanted to meet other people even if it was only a shallow relationship that was the kind of relationship that he felt when ever he was with Miyuki.

Shizuo looked up at the night sky then, a thought crossed his mind.

"Kanzaki."

Miyuki looked at Shizuo's direction.

"Do you think I'm scary?"

"….."

"You saw me back then when I got angry, right?"

Miyuki just kept silence for a moment, then she put on a gentle smile on her face and said:

"I don't think that you're scary."

**South Ikebukuro Park**

Shizuo was sitting on the park bench smoking all alone. No one else was there, Miyuki already went home after they got out of Sunshine 60.

He was thinking about what the girl had said to him at the sky deck. The words that he never would have imagined to be directed to him, the words that no one else would ever said to him, not even a second of his life has he thought that someone would ever say that to him.

**1 Hour Ago, Sunshine 60, Sky Deck**

"I don't think you're scary."

His eyes widened from behind the sunglasses that he wore as looked at the girl.

"So, you're not afraid of me?"

Miyuki let out a little laugh as she covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Of course not, if I was afraid of you I wouldn't have treated you or brought you here in the first place now, wouldn't I?"

What she said did make sense. But still, isn't it kind of weird that she isn't afraid of a person that can throw a vending machine as if it was a piece of crumpled paper?

"You're really not afraid of someone with such inhuman strength like me?"

Miyuki stepped forwards and place her hands behind her back.

"Even though you have inhuman strength you're still human, right? Your not a monster or an alien. Aside from your unusual strength you're just the same like everybody else, right? I know it's kind of weird for me to not be afraid, but that's just how I am."

She turned to face him, showing her gentle smile and she tilted her head.

"Besides, we're friends aren't we?"

Shizuo never said that they were friends not that he could recall ever saying it.

"We're friends?"

"Sure we are. Friendship isn't something that you state with words, but it's something that you create when you meet new people and get along with them, isn't it? At least that's how I think it is."

Shizuo felt really happy that she said that he was her friend, but he just nodded in agreement with showing a little smile on his face.

"Now that it's clear that we're friends you can tell me if you have any troubles or anything, I'll gladly listen to you, but you'll also have to listen to me too if I have something to say."

"Sure."

"Oh, and I'd like to tell you one more thing."

Shizuo tilted his head.

"Sure, what is it?"

Miyuki placed her right hand on her chest. The wind blew making her hair floating softly to her left side as she smiled.

"I will protect you."

At that moment Shizuo felt like the time had stopped. He kind of doubted his hearings for a second, but there was no mistake that he heard her say that she will protect him. He had no idea on what he should be feeling, should he be happy to hear that? He was the strongest man in Ikebukuro, for someone to say that they would protect him was kind of awkward.

**Present, South Ikebukuro Park**

He lit out his cigarette and walked home.

-'protect me' huh? I wonder if she can.

* * *

It's 2 am and this is how it turns out.

Next chapter: Surprise?


	12. Surprise?

**Seibu Exit, Ikebukuro Station**

It was the middle of the day and a woman was walking out of the Seibu Exit, she had short black hair and wore a white long sleeved blouse with a long pink skirt, and she seemed to be the feminine and quiet type of women. The woman looked around seeing if there was someone she knew, but all there was were strangers passing by the busy train station. She decided to go to the center of the city, taking a walk after her long trip and relax. It wasn't her first time in Ikebukuro, so she already knows the basic ways of this city.

The woman came to Ikebukuro knowing that her best friend and her boyfriend was in the city, but she didn't tell them that she was coming to find them, she wanted to surprise them but she doesn't even know where they are right now. She could just call them but she didn't want to ruin the 'surprise', so she was hoping that she would just bump into them while she was walking in the streets.

As the woman walked through the streets, her eyes were suddenly covered somebody's hands with a little force. She had hear that there were a lot of kidnappings that happened between Ikebukuro and Shibuya, could she be one of the victims? But the place where she was standing was in the middle of the crowd so it would be impossible for someone to kidnap her without anyone noticing.

-What should I do?

The woman panicked and didn't move from where she was standing, neither did the person closing her eyes.

-What is this person going to do to me?

-He couldn't possibly kidnap me, could he?

As the woman panicked the man that covered her eyes said something.

"What do you think you're doing here, Yumiko?"

-That voice!

It was a voice she knew, a voice that she could never mistaken, the voice of her boyfriend. She released the hands that were covering her eyes and turned around.

"K-K-Kazuo! W-what are you doing here?"

The woman was surprised to see that the person was actually her boyfriend that she was looking for, and ironically she was the one who ended up surprised instead of him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, I thought you were a kidnapper or something."

The woman huffed at her boyfriend as he giggled.

"Sorry about that. But what are you doing here in Ikebukuro? Didn't you have some business you had to take care of at Osaka?"

"I already finished my business in Osaka, so I came here and-"

She suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence. She lowered her head and blushed before she continued what she was saying.

"And I wanted to see you."

The man patted her head gently and smiled.

"Well, since we're here, why don't we go to the park?"

The woman just nodded while she was still blushing.

**Somewhere In Ikebukuro**

Ring, ring, ring the cell phone of a man in a bartender suit rang. The man looked at his cell phone, it was a number he didn't recognize. Usually he only gets mail from the Dollars message board, but it was rare for someone to actually call him. He answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Shizuo!"

It was a cheerful voice of a girl. He had come to recognize the voice, it was Miyuki.

"Kanzaki? How did you get-"

"I just wanted to check if this was your number or not so, bye."

Beeeeeeeeeeeep. She had hung up the phone.

**Ikebukuro Central Park**

"Thanks for giving me Shizuo's number, Shinra. I forgot to ask him for it the last time we met."

"No problem, it's rare for Shizuo to make a friend so, I'm glad I could help. Come to think of it, we're friends too aren't we, Miyu-chan?"

"Sure we are."

Miyuki was at the park with Shinra, he called her earlier to meet up since he was bored and Miyuki had gave him her number and said that he could call her if he ever needed someone to talk to.

"You know I don't really have any friends besides Shizuo and Izaya, we're not even that close so, we rarely meet up like this. Sometimes I would go all the way to Shinjuku just to complain about my problems to Izaya. You do know who Orihara Izaya is, don't you?"

"Yeah, I've heard about him, but I never really met him in person."

She didn't really seem interested in Izaya for some reason, despite the fact that he's Shizuo's archenemy. All she thought was that he must be a really annoying guy to be Shizuo's archenemy.

A couple just walked to the park, they saw a girl that was sitting beside someone wearing a lab coat. The woman gasped.

"Ah, isn't that Miyu-chan!"

She was surprised to see her best friend in the park so suddenly, and yet again she was the one who was surprised, even though she just saw her from afar. Her plan to surprise her best friend and boyfriend all failed. How could she possibly surprise someone for seeing her if she's the one who gets surprised first, she thought just now when she realized how easy it was for her to be surprised.

"It seems to be her, let go and talk to her."

The man grabbed the woman's hand and walked towards the girl.

"Yo Miyu, what are you doing here?"

The girl that was facing the man in a lab coat looked up at the man that just called out her name.

"Kazu, Yumi-chan, are you both going on a date?"

The girl put on a mischievous smile on her face.

"I'm just chatting here with Shinra."

The girl faced Shinra again as she pointed out to the couple.

"Shinra, this guy here is Kuroba Kazuo and the beautiful young lady beside him is Konno Yumiko, their my friends."

Then she did the same thing and looked up to face the couple.

"Kazu, Yumi-chan, this person here is an underground doctor, his name is Kishitani Shinra. We were just talking about friends, weren't we Shinra?"

The man in a lab coat nodded in agreement.

"Ah yes, and your friends have showed up. You sure are popular Miyu-chan, unlike me who only has two friends. But it doesn't matter as long as I have Celty by my side it doesn't even matter if I don't have any friends at all."

The couple couldn't help but think that the man in a lab coat was a weirdo by the way that he spoke. The girl that was sitting beside him narrowed her eyes and said:

"You really are a lonely-lovesick guy, aren't you Shinra? If you really don't mind having no friends then, you wouldn't have gone all the way to Shinjuku just to complain."

"I guess that's true. I do feel lonely when Celty goes out and does her job, maybe that's why."

The girl put on an 'I knew it' look on her face, and then she looked at the man that was standing in front of her.

"Come to think of it, it's rare for you to wear a white shirt, kazu."

"What are you talking about? I've always wore white clothes every once in a while. Don't tell me just because I usually wear dark colored clothes and that there is a 'black' in my name that I shouldn't wear bright colored clothes."

The girl chuckled.

"I know that. I was just teasing you, you know."

The man twitched his eyebrows, he was irritated by the girl's words. He turned his back and grabbed his girlfriend's hand as he slowly walked away.

"Let's go Yumiko, weren't we going to look around the park."

The woman followed him as he dragged her with him.

"Y-yes, well I guess I'll see you later Miyu-chan."

The woman looked back as she waved goodbye to the girl behind her.

"See you later Yumi-chan."

She waved back at the woman that was gradually going further away.

* * *

Next chapter: Awkward Relationship


	13. Awkward Relationship

This chapter turned out longer than I thought it would

* * *

It was dark, the night has come, and the city glows with the streets full of lights. A man in a bartender suit has just finished his work and was taking a walk on an empty street while he smoked a cigarette. From afar he saw a couple going their separated ways as a man waved goodbye to a woman that was walking to the opposite direction from where he was standing. The man that was waving goodbye to his girlfriend turned his gaze to the man in a bartender suit at the moment he noticed his presents. The man in the bartender suit saw the man that looked at him and thought that he was kind of familiar.

"You're Shizuo-kun right?"

The man had approached him, and then he remembered who he was.

"Yeah, and you're Kuroba, right? Who was that woman you were waving at?"

"Oh, her? She's my girlfriend, and her name is Yumiko."

-What? He already has a girlfriend? I thought he had feelings for Miyuki.

Since they're friends now, Shizuo thought that it should be natural to call the girl with her sure name than her given name and she already called him by his sure name anyway. Even though it took some time for him to think about why Kazuo asked him a lot of questions about his relationship with Miyuki, he finally came to the conclusion that Kazuo likes Miyuki more than just friends. But now he knows that Kazuo already has a girlfriend. So, why did he ask those questions back then? Shizuo could only wonder in his head. Kazuo took out a piece of bubble gum from his pocket and chewed it.

"Are you free right now? If you are, could you come with me for a moment, there's something I'd like to talk with you about."

Still in confusion, Shizuo just followed him anyway. The two of them stood beside a vending machine on an empty street and leaned on the wall that was behind them. Shizuo puffed his smoke while Kazuo blew a bubble then it popped.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Shizuo said in a natural tone while his head was filled with questions that he wanted to ask, but that could wait for later after he hears what Kazuo has to say.

"Well I'm guessing that you and Miyu are already friends by now, and I wanted to know what kind of relationship you have with her so far, not that I think that there's something special between you two."

-It happened again. He's asking me about her again.

"We're just friends and that's all there is to it, and before you ask me any more questions, let me ask you something."

Kazuo looked at Shizuo as he puffed another smoke.

"What kind of relationship do you have with Miyuki? You seem to think of her more than just a friend, but you already have a girlfriend and you keep asking me of what I think about her."

All the questions he had in his head slipped out of his mouth. Kazuo chuckled and blew another bubble.

"Well, it's true that we're more than just friends, but we're not boyfriend and girlfriend. I must've made you confused and irritated by asking you all those questions. Sorry about that."

Kazuo scratched the back of his head before he continued.

"How do should I put it, I kind of think of her as my little sister. Although she actually acts more like the one that's older sometimes because she's more mature than me."

-She's more mature than you?

Shizuo thought that Kazuo was making a joke or being sarcastic, but then he thought about the time he and Miyuki talk at the sky deck. She did give a different aura that she used to. So, maybe he's telling the truth. If he was lying, why would he say that he's less mature than a girl that's younger than him? Curiosity filled his head on how did they even get to know each other. Miyuki seemed a lot younger than him so they couldn't have been senpai and kouhai in their school days.

"So, that's how it is. No wonder you two get along so well but quarrel a lot. How did you two meet anyway?"

Again the words just slip through his mouth without thinking.

"The first time we met was when I was in my second year of high school and she was still in the sixth grade of elementary school so, it was about eight years ago."

So, Kazuo told the story of how he and Miyuki met each other.

When he was in high school Kuroba Kazuo was a delinquent that was known with the nickname 'Black Demon'. He was brute, fearsome, and he had no mercy to any of his opponents.

He didn't get the nickname 'Black Demon' just for show. He was strong, strong enough to take out a gang of ten people on his own even if it was a gang of fully grown men, those who have been defeated by him started to call him the 'Black Demon'. He didn't have any friends, all the students at his school were scared of him, but he didn't care.

One day, after he just beat the hell out of a bunch of students from another school that bumped into him and knew who he was, he heard a voice yelled at him from behind.

"Hey you!"

He turned around to see who dared to yell at him after he just knocked out a bunch of people, and then he saw the figure of a little girl who was half his size.

"What do you want, you little brat!"

The little girl crossed her arms puffed her cheeks. She didn't like being called a little brat.

"Just who do you think you are? Beating up a bunch of people in the middle of the road like that!"

Such challenging words came out of the girl's mouth, he raised a brow and put on a 'what the hell' kind of expression on his face.

"I've seen you beating up people every now and then, and it's starting to get on my nerves. You could at least spare the ones who beg for your mercy."

"The world isn't as nice as you think it is kid. If you can't stand seeing people being beaten up, why don't you just get lost and go home because I swear I'll beat you up next if you don't get out of my sight in one minute!"

The girl grinned, the expression on her face that was a look of anger changed into an arrogant look as her arms were still crossed.

"Tsk, was that supposed to be a threat?"

He clenched his fists so hard that you could see the veins of his hands, he was really irritated by the little girl.

Five seconds have passed.

"Oh, that wasn't a treat, it was a warning. If you don't run now I'll really beat you up, and don't think that just because you're a little girl that I'll go easy on you!"

The girl was still standing there with a confident look, she unfolded her crossed arms and made her palms face the sky as she let out a sigh.

"You're such an unreasonable guy you know that. You just knocked out seven guys and now you want to beat up a sweet and innocent little girl."

The girl said adding a dramatic tone into her words.

"An innocent girl wouldn't have such an obnoxious attitude."

"I guess you're right. Well, I'd like to see you try and beat me, that is, if you can do it."

Thirty seconds have passed and no more words were exchanged.

Forty seconds passed, the tension kept growing.

Fifty seconds passed, and the girl was still standing where she was in the middle of unconscious bodies.

Five, four, three, two, one.

The time was up.

The boy charged toward to the little girl to give her a punch, but when his fist almost reached her, she had dodged it by doing a slip (a move that boxers use to avoid a punch).

-What the?

The girl delivered a kick to the boy's chest right after dodging his punch. The boy was pushed back by the force of the girl's kick but he didn't fall back. The girl's kick gave more force than he thought it would, but he didn't stop. He tried to attack her again sliding down to knock her feet off the ground, but she jumped and avoided it.

The girl had dodged and avoided every blow that the boy gave her, and then at last she began to make her move. She sent a flying kick to the boy's face but he blocked it with both of his arms, knowing that her kick was blocked she leaped back to the ground, and knocked the boy off the ground by sliding and kicked his feet like what he tried to do to her earlier. The boy fell forwards, but before his body reached the ground the girl elbowed his back to add more force to his fall.

In the end the boy lost the fight and was lying down on the ground just like the other people that he knocked out earlier, he was still conscious though. As he laid down on the ground, the girl was standing in front of him and looked down at him.

"I didn't really want to fight you. But I guess it was kind of unavoidable seeing how unreasonable you are."

The girl let out a sigh. She didn't get a single scratch from the fight, none of the blows that the boy gave her even reached her. He was defeated, defeated by a little girl he barely knew. He was frustrated and confused. How in the world could he possibly be defeated by a little girl, he thought. The girl left the scene without saying another word as the sun sets.

It's been three days since he was defeated by a little girl and ever since then the boy became more brutal then he already was. Annoyed by the fact that he was defeated by a little girl, he pours out his anger towards those who were around him. That day on his way home from school he was surrounded by a bunch of third graders from his school. There were about more than twenty people that surrounded him, and they all had weapons. The boy didn't show any signs of fear, he didn't care that he was surrounded, the only thing that he thought was maybe all the frustration he's been feeling these past three days can disappear if he took out all his seniors that were surrounding him right now. But right now he was biting more than he can chew.

He fell unconscious after one of the seniors that ambushed him hit his head with a big rock. The boy regained has his consciousness and realized that he was lying on his bed in his room at home. Was that all just a dream, he wondered but then he realized that it wasn't a dream. His body was sore all over and covered in bandages, his head was dizzy and it was also wrapped in bandages, his left hand was wrapped in a cast and seemed to be broken. He was confused on why and how he was in the condition he was in, and then he heard a voice.

"Ah, you're awake!"

He turned to look at who it was and what he saw was the girl that has made him frustrated these past three days, she was sitting in front of his study desk looking at the books that was on a shelf in his room.

"What are you doing here you little-argh…!"

He felt the pain coming from his ribs as he tried to get out of his bed, it seems like some of his ribs were broken too.

"You shouldn't move around too much. The doctor said that some of your bones are broken, but don't worry because he said that it would heal in about one or two weeks."

The girl showed an expressionless face as she looked though the books on his desk that she has placed there to read. Still not getting what happened, the boy decided to ask the girl.

"What happened to me?"

"I found you lying unconscious on the ground with a lot of injuries and there was blood flowing out of your head, it seems like you were hit in the head with a big rock or something. I looked though your wallet and found out where you lived, so I dragged you here and called a doctor to come over, since I don't think you would prefer to be treated in a hospital with your kind of attitude. I would have brought you to my house but it's pretty far from where you were so I just brought you home. Oh, and the doctor said that you should rest and stay home for a few days before going back to school."

Her expression remained unchanged as she answered, she was still looking at the book she held. The boy pondered what the girl had just said in his mind. There were some things that he still didn't understand so he asked again with a polite voice this time.

"Why did you help me?"

It was an obvious question that was bound to be asked sooner or later. The two of the just had a fight that the boy started, yet now she's helping the guy that was going to beat her up despite her being a little girl. The girl closed the book she was reading and faced the boy.

"I couldn't just leave you there after seeing that you were badly injured like that. You might be a delinquent and all but, you're still human and if I just left you lying there you could have died form blood loss."

The boy felt kind of guilty for attacking her three days ago, now that he's being taken care by her. The girl leaned back on the desk chair she was sitting on, she's been intruding the boy's house since she arrived, it wasn't polite but she acted as if it was her own house.

"What's your reason to fight, Kazuo-kun?"

She suddenly asked a question out of the blue.

"I just like it, that's all."

The truth is he didn't really know why he always fights, he just felt like it, but there wasn't any particular reason why he did. The girl let out a sigh.

"When I see you fight it doesn't look like you really enjoy it and it doesn't seem like you really have any grudge against the person you fight with either. If you ask me, it looks like that the reason you fight is to blame someone for something they didn't do."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I meant was something happened in your past and there's no one you could blame it on, you feel angry and start blaming others, so you fight people with an excuse that it's their fault, the world is to blame for what happened, or something like that. Well, for whatever reason you fight for is none of my business, you can fight all you want with strangers, thugs, ect. But let me give you a piece of advice."

The girl stood up from the chair and walked closer to the boy that was sitting on his bed. She had a serious look on her face and her eyes.

"Whatever happens, don't deny the fact that it happened. If you feel guilty for what happened then the first thing you have to do is forgive yourself."

Those words struck the boy, he knew what he was doing all this time was wrong, but he still did it. The reason he always fights, he just realized it now from hearing the girls words.

His mother died from a car accident when he just got into middle school. That day his mother went out to buy him a congratulations gift for making it into middle school, but before she reached the store she was struck by a car, he blamed the world for his mother's death and changed, ever since then he became the delinquent he was now. But the truth is he knows it's his fault, he didn't want to admit that and blamed it on others to comfort his feelings, but he can't escape from the truth.

The girl was ready to leave. She picked up her bag that was on the floor and headed for the door.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

The girl stopped in her tracks before she went through the door.

"I cooked something for you to eat downstairs. You should be able to move around as long as you take it slowly. Well, see ya."

The boy was silent, he didn't move from his bed and kept thinking about what the girl said to him.

"And that's how it all started."

* * *

I had some trouble writing the fighting scene, I never knew describing a fight could be so hard -_-'

Next chapter: Slow Progress


	14. Slow Progress

Note: Kazuo only told Shizuo that he and Miyuki had a fight and he lost. He didn't tell Shizuo the rest of the story that was written on chapter 13.

* * *

"So, that's how you two met?"

"Yeah, that's how we met."

"You met each other, fight each other, you lost and that's it? It still doesn't explain how the two of you are so close."

The story that he told to Shizuo didn't really sound like the beginning of a beautiful friendship, it sounded more like the meeting of two enemies, something like how he met Izaya and became archenemies ever since.

"Well, I know that doesn't really sound like the start of a friendship, it even sounds like the opposite of it, but that's how we met."

Kazuo looked up at the night sky that showed some stars with a nostalgic look on his face.

"I don't think it makes any sense to you that I think of Miyu as my little sister just from hearing the story of how we met. So, I guess I'll have to tell you what happened after that to make it a bit clearer. See, I kind of got into a bad situation and got seriously injured, but Miyuki saved me."

Continuing the story where he left off, Kazuo told Shizuo what happened after they met leaving aside the story of how he felt about his mother's death.

It's been four days that the boy was absent from school, not that it really mattered since he usually skips school sometimes. He had to stay at home and take care of himself that was injured, it was annoying not having someone taking care of you when you're injured but he had no choice.

Ever since his mother died his dad was always busy and had to work out of town most of the time and rarely comes home. Usually his father would come home because he got a call from the school telling him that his son was in trouble and such, other than that he just comes to get something at home and goes again, not even staying for one night at his own house. So, like it or not he had to take care of himself, making sure he could still survive with the money his father gives him every time he comes home.

The food that the little girl had cooked for him when she was at his house lasted for three meals. She had made porridge for him back then, and he thought that it tasted very good. The boy still wondered why the little girl helped him back then, even though she already gave him an answer, but still. As he was wondering while he was sitting on a couch in the living room, the door bell rang. Who could it possibly be? If it was his father he would've just got in with out having to ring the door bell. The boy stood up and went to the front door, when he opened the door he saw the girl that helped him standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

Speak of the devil, he was just thinking about her and now she's here. The boy looked down at the girl with a scary look on his face. The girl placed both her hands on her hips and said:

"That's not a polite way to treat your guests, you know. Especially if that guest just happened to save your life a few days ago."

She put her hand down letting out a sigh before she looked up at the boy in front of her.

"I came here to check up on you."

The girl lifted a finger and poked it on the boy's ribs, gradually adding more force in every poke.

"Argh….that hurt!"

"Well, it seems like you haven't fully recovered yet since it's only been four days, but your condition is much better than last time."

"It's none of your business!"

"Of course it is! I called a doctor to fix you up and if you don't recover that means I've wasted my money for something useless."

-So, basically you're not concerned about me.

The thought made him angry, but he could understand that it must have been expensive to call a doctor to his house so, he didn't argue about it.

"Well, if that all you came here for, then get lost already."

The boy walked back inside while he slowly closes the door, but then the door was stopped before it closed.

"Wait a minute!"

"What now!"

"You haven't been going to school now, have you?"

"Of course I haven't, but I'm planning to go to school tomorrow because it's boring to stay home and do nothing."

"Ok, then just-"

The boy had slammed the door closed before she could finish her sentence.

"-make sure you don't overdo it."

The next day he went to school, he noticed that there were less people at school than usual and most of the students that weren't there were the seniors. As usual, everyone at school feared him, no one bothered to ask what happened to him even though they saw that his left was in a cast. He didn't care, as long as no one bothers him its fine.

Before he went home he stopped by a convenience store to buy some food, and when he was on his way home he saw something unusual. He saw a little girl that was being surrounded by a group of people, when he looked closer to what was happening he saw that the little girl was the girl that helped him and that the group of people around her were his seniors that ambushed him.

-What the hell is going on?

He couldn't figure out what was going on or why is the girl being surrounded by his seniors?

"Hey little girl, you were the one who told our teachers that we beat up that cocky second grader, weren't you?"

"So, what if I am?"

-Huh? Why would she do that?

"Thanks to you we all got suspended for one week and our parents grounded us."

The girl crossed her arms.

"It's none of my business what happens to you guys, all I did was tell the truth after all."

It looked like his seniors were getting ready to attack the girl, his mind stopped thinking. He dropped the plastic bag that he was holding on the ground and ran towards the girl, he didn't know what he was doing, his body moved on it's own. But before he got to where the girl was there was an explosion, an explosion of smoke and he stopped on his tracks.

"What the-"

Everyone around the girl began to fall unconscious, he didn't realize that the smoke from the explosion was knock out gas, and so he also fell unconscious.

When he woke up he was in his room again like the last time he passed out.

-What happened again?

"Jeez…just how many times do I have to drag you back to your house? It's a good thing you didn't fall too hard."

The boy turned his head and saw the girl sitting on his desk chair again. He didn't say a word and kept silent, he pondered on what just happened, until he spoke:

"Why did you tell the teachers what happened? More importantly, how did you even know that those guy were the ones the ambushed me?"

"…Well, I kind of saw those guys coming out of the ally you were in and found out that they were the ones who ambushed you so, I told the teachers at your school what happened."

"Why did I pass out anyway?"

"Oh, that. You inhaled the knock out gas I used to make those guys fall a sleep."

"How in the world did you even have Knock out gas!"

The girl chuckled and smiled at the boy.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out. Come to think of it, every time I come here it's always so quiet isn't there anyone in this house besides you?"

The boy closed his eyes and looked away with an annoyed look on his face.

"These no one else in this house besides me. My father's working out of town and I don't have a mother. So, like it or not I have to take care of myself, even in this condition."

The boy turned to face the girl again with his eyes still shut.

"Now you know so-"

*Bang*

A book went flying at him and hit his forehead so hard, that he felt as if he could fall unconscious again.

"How could you throw a book at an injured person! And it was a thick book too!"

The boy said to the girl furiously. The girl stood up from the chair she was sitting on, and approached the boy.

"Then why didn't you tell me that there was no one to take care of you!?"

"It has nothing to do with you, that's why!"

"Whatever. Starting from today I'm going to stay here and take care of you until your arm is healed."

The girl walked towards the door to get out of the boys room.

"Don't decide things on your own! You think I'd l-"

The girl tossed a scissor at the boy's direction and it almost cut his face, but luckily the scissor passed him. The scissor that passed the side of his head was stuck on the wall, if the girl had tossed it just a little bit more to the right, it could have cut off the boy's ears. The girl put on a smile and said:

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"N-n-no, it was nothing."

-I feel like she's trying to kill me rather than take care of me.

And just like that the girl stayed at the boy's house to take care of him until his arm healed, she slept on the couch that was in the living room. She cooked meals, did the laundry, and other house chores that the boy usually does on his own, she still attended school as she did all of that, and she would wake the boy up early in the morning and tell him to go downstairs to eat breakfast.

It felt like he was being taken cared of by a mother than a little girl. It made him remember about his mother and the girl's advice, he thought about what he has done in the past years ever since his mother died and wondered what he should do now that he's aware of his guilt. He was actually grateful that the girl was there to take care of him and did all the house chores, but he never showed how he felt about it and just acted cool and natural. They never really had a conversation during that time, the girl would just ask him if he did anything reckless when she wasn't around everyday he got home from school.

Finally after one week the girl has stayed at his house, his arm was healed and the girl was ready to leave and go home. As the girl walked away from the front door, the boy called out to her.

"Wait a sec will you."

The girl stopped and turned to look at the boy and tilted her head.

"What is it? Did I forget something?"

"No, you didn't forget anything. I just wanted to say thanks for taking care of me, and would you mind telling me your name."

It's been weeks since the boy met the girl, but he doesn't even know her name though they have been living under the same roof for one week. The girl knew the boys name from his school identity card, but the boy never asked her what her name was until now.

"You're welcome, and my name is Kanzaki Miyuki.

The girl smiled and finally left. After that the boy still got in to a lot of fights, but something was different about him. No one knew what it was but there was definitely something different about him something that changed.

"Then we met each other every now and then, and before we knew it we were already friends."

Shizuo puffed his smoke.

"I guess it kind of makes sense now. By the way, what were you going to say back then at the pastry shop before Miyuki showed up?"

"Oh, that, it was nothing. I was just going to say that it's rare for Miyu take interest on someone she only met a few times unless their really unique."

* * *

Is it just me or the story is really slow and starting to sound pointless :I

Well, the chapters are short anyway so I guess it's ok XP

Next chapter: Ignorance


	15. Ignorance

Aniki here means Boss

* * *

**In Front Of Shibuya Station**

There were four men chatting.

"Hey, have you heard about the Dollars?"

"That's some color gang in Ikebukuro, right?"

"Yeah, but I heard that they're a color gang without a color. Some say that colorless or invisible is their color."

"Do you think that Aniki knows about this Dollars gang?"

"Of course Aniki knows, Aniki's information source is huge. There's no way that Aniki doesn't know about the Dollars."

"Yeah you're right. But even though this Dollars gang is very popular, what do they even do?"

"I'm not sure, but I heard a lot of scary rumors about them."

"Scary rumors? Like what?"

"I heard that the dollars do a lot of scary things like: human trafficking, slashing people, and other scary things. I also heard that there are some pretty crazy and inhuman people that are in the Dollars."

"You serious? That does sound scary."

"But those are just rumors, right? I'm sure some of them aren't even true at all."

"Hearing all about this Dollars group is making me curious. They started out as a group of people on a site called Dollars, but now their coming out of the virtual world into reality."

"Maybe we can be a part of the Dollars."

"Heh? Won't Aniki be mad if we did something like that?"

"They say that there are no rules in the Dollars, so I'm sure Aniki won't mind."

"It does make me curious. Why don't we all go to Ikebukuro and find out more about the Dollars."

**CHATROOM**

_Ikumi_

Hey Nakura-san, it's nice to see you here again. (^_^)

_Nakura_

Nice to see you too, Ikumi.

_Ikumi_

Well, technically I don't see you but I see that you're logged in to this chatroom (lol)

_Nakura_

Technically, yes. So, how's your life in Ikebukuro so far?

_Ikumi_

Life is fine, I've met a lot of interesting people in Ikebukuro, and some of my old friends showed up too.

_Nakura_

Wow, you sure are lucky. Life hasn't been going well with me, I feel like I want to die.

_Ikumi_

You shouldn't say things like that, Nakura-san. Just how bad is it, until you say stuff like you want to die.

_Nakura_

I found out that my lover was cheating on me with my best friend.

_Ikumi_

That's terrible. How did it happen?

_Nakura_

I was calling my lover to ask her to go out somewhere, but she rejected it and said that she had other things to do. When I went to her place I was going to ask her out again, then I saw that she was making out with my best friend. I told my mother about it and she just said that those kinds of things happen in life. I don't think any of them ever thought about how I feel. Have you ever had something like that happen to you Ikumi, something so terrible that makes you feel you just want to disappear and die?

_Ikumi_

…..

_Nakura_

Ikumi?

_Ikumi_

My parents were killed in front of me when I was just four years old.

_Nakura_

That sounds darker than what I just told you.

_Ikumi_

…I guess it does.

_Nakura_

Ikumi, would you like to go and disappear with me?

…..

**In A Karaoke Box**

"Ah, you must be Ikumi, right?"

"Yes, that means you're Nakura-san."

"I'm glad we could meet without any problems."

The man who was just addressed as Nakura stood to greet the girl that just came in the karaoke box. They both sat down on the couch and a waiter came inside to give them drinks.

"Please take the drink and let us cheer as a farewell to this world."

"Thanks for the drink."

The girl smiled and took the drink. After they made their cheers, the man put his drink down and held his hands together.

"So, Miss Ikumi, is there something you'd like to do before you die?"

"There are a lot of things I still want to do, but if I were asked on what I want to do the most, the answer would be to get a boyfriend that I can truly love and get married."

The man went speechless for a few seconds and looked a little surprised.

"Didn't you meet me to go and die together? Why are you talking as if you still want to live?"

"That's because I don't want to die. I agreed to meet with you at the chatroom because I wanted to see what does a pathetic loser that got cheated by his lover and best friend look like. But it seems to me that you don't intend to die either."

The man laughed so loud and put his right hand on his forehead.

"Hahahaha…..you're a really interesting human, you know that? I'd never expect to meet someone like me from the chatroom."

"So, you're saying that you also have your own intentions on going to that site and meet people with the excuse 'let's disappear together' though, I wouldn't say that I'm the same kind as you. I guess your story was a lie too then."

"Bingo! You hit the jackpot. Everything I said was a lie, and now that you know it's a lie. What are you going to do about it?"

The girl looked at the man with sharp eyes.

"Nothing, I'm not going to do anything about it. Either if it was a lie or not what you said has nothing to do with me. I wanted to know why would you want to take your own life away because of something like that, but I guess you won't have the answer since you never intended to die."

The man put on a smirk on his face as he looked at the girl with eyes filled with excitement.

"Do you realize how dangerous it is to meet someone like me?"

The man Orihara Izaya had known from the start who the girl was, Kanzaki Miyuki was a girl that has been in good therms with Heiwajima Shizuo his archenemy. With his skills in gathering information he found out that she uses the nickname 'Ikumi' on the chatroom and wanted to meet her, but he didn't expect to meet her with the invitation 'let's disappear together'.

The girl on the other hand had no idea who the man was, she just simply met up out of curiosity. She knew the name Orihara Izaya but she doesn't know what he looks like.

* * *

Please review :D

Next chapter: Intensions


	16. Intensions

I think I'm starting to lose my imagination in this part of the story -_-'

Anyway I just found out what Mary-sue means and just to make it clear Miyuki is not Mary-sue even if she seems like it.

* * *

The girl looked at the man with seriousness in her eyes, she wondered what might the man have in mind and then she put on a friendly smile.

"I don't know if you're dangerous or not but I'm sure you're not an ordinary person."

"You're not an ordinary person yourself. You agreed to meet me when I said 'Let's disappear together' even though you don't want to die. Even though you said that you just wanted to see what I looked like, I'm sure there's more to that than you say. What would you do to me if I was really a guy that wanted to die?"

"I would tell you my opinion on life and give you some advice but, if you still insist of dying I would beat the hell out of you."

The man chuckled with the smirk still plastered on his face.

"So, in other words you wanted to be a hero and save someone's life but if that person still wants to die you'd beat him up since he doesn't mind dying."

"You could say it like that but the thought of being a hero never crossed my mind. I just don't want people dying because of such minor things, it's actually more for the sake of my self-satisfaction."

"You really are interesting Miyu-chan."

"How did you know my name? Have you been stalking me or something?"

"Hahaha…. Stalking is such a rude word, I prefer to call it observing."

"So, you've been observing me from a far, it still sounds like a stalker to me, unless you have your reasons for observing me."

The man leaned back on the couch and pointed his index finger to the ceiling.

"The reason is simply because I like humans. Humans are so appealing and interesting. I just can't help myself. Oh, and just because I like humans, it doesn't mean that I like you personally. I've seen you hanging around Shizu-chan lately so, I kept observing you and collected some information about you including your name."

The girl leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms.

"So, you knew who I was from the beginning and decided to meet me to see what I'm like in person."

"Basically it's like that."

"You sure are a twisted guy Izaya-kun. It's no wonder why Shizuo hates you."

The man's expression changed hearing his name being said by the girl, his face looked more serious than it was before, with the smirk still on his face.

"Oh, so you also knew who I was Miyu-chan?"

"Not really, I just figured that you're Izaya since you observed me because I was hanging around Shizuo. I heard that you two are archenemies, but I wasn't interested in finding more information about you besides that your name is Orihara Izaya, you live in Shinjuku, and that you're an information broker."

"You're pretty well informed, it was surprising to me that you still hanged around Shizu-chan after knowing his monstrous strength. Why would someone like you hang around Shizu-chan? You're a smart and rich girl with great status even if you don't look like it."

"I like Shizuo. He's a nice guy once you get to know him better. I don't know why you hate him so much, sure he has monstrous strength but he's still a human being. You say you like humans but you deny that Shizuo is human just because he's a little different, shouldn't that make you more interested in him rather than hate him?"

"It seems that you don't understand Miyu-chan. Shizuo isn't human, he has no understanding and goes on a rampage whenever he feels like it, and he's the kind of person that can't be told with reasons, that's why I hate him."

Miyuki looked up at the ceiling with her arms still crossed, she thought about what Izaya just said. She looked back at Izaya that was sitting across her.

"I don't care what you think, I still think Shizuo is a nice guy. We're friends and I like hanging out with him."

"Well, that's up to you but, would you mind if I tried to kill that so called friend of yours?"

Miyuki unfolded her crossed arms, tilted her head and gave Izaya a huge smile.

"I don't mind since you always fail to kill him but, I won't let you go and have your ways if you do manage to hurt him."

Miyuki stood up and it seems like she was ready to leave.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Izaya-kun, maybe we can meet again next time. I have something I have to take care of so, I'll be leaving now."

"It was nice meeting you to Miyu-chan."

When she reached the door and was about to leave she stopped.

"Oh, I forgot to mention something."

"What is it?"

"I don't know if you've researched my background or not but I thought I'd just let you know. What I said in the chatroom about seeing my parents killed was true."

Without a respond from Izaya, Miyuki left the room.

**Ikebukuro Central Park**

It was late at night, Miyuki was sitting on a bench and it seemed like she was waiting for someone. While she was waiting she took out her cell phone from her pocket and played with it. It's been ten minutes since she waited and finally somebody showed up.

"Sorry I'm late, did I make you wait?"

Miyuki looked up at the man that stood in front of her.

"Yeah, you made me wait long enough to get bored and I already came later than the agreed time because I knew you would be late."

She said in a sarcastic tune.

"I said sorry, there's no need to be so grumpy about it."

"Well, anyway, what did you want to tell me in person that you had to call me out this late at night, Kazu?"

"I just wanted to tell you that me and Yumiko will be leaving Ikebukuro tomorrow. I though I'd tell you in person so you won't feel lonely once we go."

Miyuki stood up from the bench and placed her cell phone back in her pocket. She began to walk and went pass Kazuo.

"If that's all you wanted to say you could've just sent me a text message."

After a few steppes she stopped in her tracks.

"Besides, it's not like I need you guys around me all the time and I won't feel lonely just because you guys aren't around."

She left the park leaving Kazuo behind even though they just met after she waited so long in the park. He looked up at the sky and felt the night breeze then started to talk to himself.

"You might not be lonely, but the truth is you're happy that I told you in person, right?"

Not long after that Kazuo also headed out of the park as he put his hands in his pockets.

**In An Apartment Somewhere**

Miyuki was lying down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

-So, Kazu and Yumi-chan will be going tomorrow huh. It's too bad, I wanted to play with Yumi-chan since she got here but, I guess I can't do anything about that now. She and kazu must be busy.

As she stared at the ceiling she raised her right hand to cover the light the was shining to her eyes.

-Why did he come here in the first place?

It was a question that she should have asked him when they first met in Ikebukuro. She forgot to ask him because when they met, Kazuo had asked her about Shizuo so, she just introduced them without asking him the reason he came to Ikebukuro. She could just send him a text message now with her cell phone and ask him but, it didn't really matter to her anymore. She was happy enough to know that her friend was doing well.

She put down her raised hand and rolled over to face the wall as a smile appeared on her face.

-Well, I wonder what I should do tomorrow?

She was getting sleepy so she turned off the lights and went to sleep.

* * *

Next chapter: Nightmare


	17. Nightmare

-It's dark. Where am I, I can't see a thing?

Miyuki waved her hand in front of her face.

-Huh? I can see my hand but, everything around me is pitch black. I must be dreaming.

She realized that she was dreaming. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen besides herself. Miyuki had a bad feeling on what's going to happen in her dream, and her fears came true. The pitch black surrounding began to change into the scenery of her living room at home.

-No. Not this again. Why does this dream keep haunting me?

The scene of seeing her parents being killed in front of her eyes showed up. She could see her younger self just staring at the terrifiying sight.

-I want to wake up. I want to get out of here. But why can't I?

Her thoughts of wanting to wake up didn't change a thing, she couldn't wake up. All she could do was watch. She could've just closed her eyes but, she didn't. It was a something that happened in her past, something that she could not deny. It made no difference to her if her eyes were opened or closed because she could still hear the sound of slashing and screaming that even if she closed her eyes the image of her parents being slaughtered will still show up in her mind.

After the slaughtering was over the scenery changed again, and this time it was the scenery of her parent's funeral. She was standing behind the crowd that was surrounding her parent's grave, drenched by the pouring rain, still hoping that she could wake up. She was like a ghost in her dream that no one could see. After everyone left and only a little girl which was her younger self was there holding an umbrella, the little girl looked back at Miyuki that was standing not far behind her and put on a smile.

"Why are you still here, Onee-san?"

Miyuki looked at her younger self that suddenly talked to her with a shocked look on her face. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the girl not far in front of her. It was rare for her to have any contact with herself in any of her dreams. Usually the dream would end when the ceremony is over, but now her younger self is talking to her.

-I want to wake up. I want to wake up.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you like but you'll catch a cold if you just stand there in the rain."

The little girl turned her body to face Miyuki while she was still smiling.

"Onee-san, why do you think I'm smiling when my parents just died?"

Miyuki just stood there in silence, staring at the little girl in front of her with a pale face.

-What's going on? Why are you still talking to me?

She had an uneasy feeling inside her heart. She felt that there was something weird about the little girl.

"Maybe the reason I'm not crying and why I'm smiling is the same."

The little girl began to spin around in the rain while twirling her umbrella with a cheerful attitude towards Miyuki. She stopped when she was right in front of Miyuki and looked down with the umbrella covering her face from Miyuki that was taller than her.

"Do you know what that reason is, Onee-san?"

-W-what are you going to say?

The uneasiness in Miyuki's heart grew as she stared down at the little girl in front of her. A smirk appeared on the little girls face. She slowly raised her umbrella and looked at Miyuki with a wicked look on her face.

"The reason why I'm not crying-"

-No, don't say anything.

"-is because you don't care that they died, don't you?"

Miyuki froze. Hearing those words come out of the mouth of her younger self in a dream was a bit too much to handle.

-N-no, th-that's…..that's not true.

"Hahahahaha…"

The little girl dropped her umbrella and laughed as if she was mad. A huge gust of wind went by and the scenery turned back into being pitch black. Miyuki was still frozen and didn't move a muscle.

"Why are you still alive?"

She could hear voices whispering in her ears, though she couldn't see anything.

"You should've died back then, why are you the only one that survived?"

-Shut up.

"Your friend died because you were careless. It should've been you died back then."

-Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Miyuki covered her ears with her hands hoping that she could stop hearing the voices that continued whispering in to her ears as she went down on her knees and closed her eyes.

"Everything would be better if you just die."

Miyuki opened her eyes and saw the dark ceiling above her.

-I'm awake.

She narrowed her eyes and curled up in her bed hugging her knees tightly. She could still remember the voices that whispered in her ears and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Why do I always get those stupid nightmares?"

She muttered to herself as she was still curled up in her bed. She often gets those kinds of dreams once in a while but she never mentioned it to anyone. She would just keep all of those painful feelings that she felt and hoped that it will all disappear as the time goes by.

It was morning, the sun was shining brightly and some of the sunlight slipped through a window and gave warmth to Miyuki that was still curled up in her bed. She felt the sunlight on her skin and got up, opened the curtains, and sat beside her bed. She gazed out the window looking at the sunny weather.

"I think I'll go and get breakfast outside today."

Miyuki stood up and walked towards a cupboard that wasn't far from the bed. She opened the cupboard's door and looked for something to wear, she took out her usual Levis jeans and jacket with a white plain t-shirt and placed it on her bed. After she took a shower, she wore the clothes she has selected with and brought some things that she might need when she went outside to find a place to eat.

As she walked through the streets of Ikebukuro she kept looking down at the road and her hands placed in her pockets. The dream she had last night was still bothering her and she couldn't stop thinking about it. She wasn't really paying attention on where she was going and bumped into someone.

"Ah, sorry I wasn't paying attention."

She pulled out her right hand that was in her pocket and placed it behind her head and put on a clumsy looking face with a smile to the person she just bumped into.

"Miyuki, what are you doing here?"

She looked up at the person the she just bumped into.

"Shizuo! It's been a while since we last met."

She said with a cheerful tone as she clapped her hands together and gave a bright smile to Shizuo.

"It's only been two days you know?"

"I know. Well, it's good to see you're doing well. I'm just looking for a place to eat. Are you on your way to work?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm hungry so I guess I'll see you later."

Miyuki walked pass Shizuo and waved at him.

"Ah, Miyuki."

She stopped and turned back to face Shizuo and tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"I don't know why I'm asking this but, are you alright?"

Miyuki just waved her hand in front of her face.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine."

"Ok then, see you later."

They went their separated ways and Miyuki continued walking to find a place to eat breakfast.

-Did he realize that I was acting a bit different?

-Maybe it was just his hunch.

Nobody could ever tell when she was feeling sad or uncomfortable because she never expresses her sadness. Only Kazuo knows but sometimes even his radar can't pick up Miyuki's hidden feelings. Shizuo, someone she just met not long ago, suddenly asked her if she was alright or not even though she acted like her usual self. She didn't like people to worry about her especially if it was only because of a dream. So, she just acts like her usual self as if there was nothing troubling her.

* * *

Next chapter: The Truth About Valentine


	18. The Truth About Valentine

Sorry for the long update (if anyone actually waited)

Note:

Giri-choko = Obligation Chocolate (usually chocolate that was brought)

Honmei-choko = True Feeling Chocolate (usually chocolate that girls made by them self's)

* * *

**A Café Somewhere In Ikebukuro**

Tom and Shizuo were sitting inside a café.

"So, Valentine's day is almost here. Have you ever got any chocolate on Valntine's? I know you don't have a girlfriend, but haven't you at least got any giri-choko from a girl?"

Tom started a conversation before sipping his black coffee. Shizuo kept on a calm expression as he answered Tom's question.

"No, I haven't. No girl has ever been close to me to give me anything. Though that must be my personality's fault, but there's no one close to me, save the flea and the weird guy in glasses."

"Are you talking about Izaya and the doctor that you've mentioned once?"

"Yeah. The doctor's an irritating fly that just can't stop talking nonsense into your ears, and I still get mad at him at times. But he's kind of a bad acquaintance that's stuck. I don't even wanna mention the flea. He can die in a fire soon enough for me. Anyway that's why I've never had a girlfriend or any Valentine's chocolate."

"Don't mind that too much. You'll find a cute girlfriend sooner or later. You've got a face like your top idol brother's after all."

Tom tried to cheer Shizuo up with a smile on his face. Shizuo, on the other hand, tilted his head in a 'Do I really?' sort of way.

"Ah, come to think of it, what do you think about Miyu-chan? It seems like you two are in good terms. Maybe she'll give you chocolate on Valentine's day."

Shizuo's expression remained calm. He pondered what Tom just said.

"I don't think so. She's just a friend. So, I doubt that she'll give me any chocolate."

"I guess so."

Not long after their little conversation, a girl approached them.

"Hi guys, taking a break from work?"

With her usual bright smile, Miyuki greeted the two men that were sitting in the café. Tom coughed and almost spit out the coffee he was drinking when he heard her voice behind him.

"M-miyu-chan….what are you doing here?"

Surprised to see he girl that they were talking about not long ago, he looked up at Miyuki's face.

"I was just passing by and I saw the both of you. So, I thought I'd drop by and say 'Hi'."

She pulled a seat from an empty table to the table where Tom and Shizuo were sitting and ordered a capuchino. Shizuo didn't seem surprised to see her, either because he's already used to her showing up all of a sudden or that it didn't matter anymore.

"I saw the two of you talking from outside the window. I know it's none of my business, but what were you guys talking about?"

"It was nothing…we were just talking about Valentine's day."

"Oh yeah, it's only two days away right?"

Tom was sure the conversation will lead to the question 'have you guys ever got any chocolate?' so before that happens and the possibility that Shizuo might get 'mad' comes. He decided to talk before Miyuki opened her mouth again.

"So, Miyu-chan. Do you usually give someone chocolate every year?"

"Yep, I always give people chocolate ever year. Though I don't really get the whole reason to celebrate Valentine's day. I know it's a day to show your love and everything, but for me it's just a usual day where girls give boys chocolate."

A puzzled look appeared on Tom's face.

"So, why do you even give people chocolate on Valentine's day?"

Miyuki placed her fists close together in front of her chest and tilted her head.

"Because it seems fun and it makes everyone happy."

The capuchino Miyuki ordered has arrived and she began drinking it.

"Who do you usually give chocolate to, Miyu-chan?"

Miyuki put down the cup of capuchino on the table.

"Well, back in my school days, I would give everyone in my class chocolate. Both girls and boys. I would also give it to my friends."

"You gave one to all your classmates? Isn't that a bit too much?"

Miyuki chuckled.

"I know it's a lot, but I enjoy giving things to others."

It turned silent. Miyuki looked like she was thinking about something. Shizuo was just drinking his milk and Tom was stirring his coffee.

After some time has passed Miyuki broke the silence.

"Come to think of it…..Valentine's day is just like any other day. In Japan, girls give boys chocolate. But in other countries the boys are the ones that give girls chocolate. In fact, the way each country celebrates it is different. Do you guys know what started Valentine's day?"

Shizuo fixed his sunglasses and looked at Miyuki.

"Not really."

"Well from the research that I've done, Valentine's day was the day that someone named Valentine died."

Shizuo tilted his head.

"Why did it become the day of love if it was the day that someone died?"

"Long story short. Valentine was a saint. In the place and time where he was in, marriage was prohibited for young men. Despite the ban for marriage, he helped the lovers get married. He was locked in prison and sentenced to death. While he was waiting in prison he fell in love with jailer's daughter. He was executed and left a message for the jailer's daughter and was signed 'From Your Valentine'. End of story."

-It really did sound like a long story that was made short.

"I think it would be better if a girl gave chocolate to a boy on a random day, that way it would be more of a surprise."

"So, who are you going to give chocolate this year? You're not a school girl anymore. You can't just give chocolate to random people, can you?"

Miyuki looked up as she tilted her head sideways and placed her index finger on her cheek.

"Hmmm….Kazu and the guys aren't around. I'm sure Shinra won't accept it because he really loves Celty, and Celty can't eat. I guess I'll only be giving chocolate to Shizuo this year."

When they left the café, Tom and Shizuo went back to work while Miyuki went to walk around town.

It was night time and Miyuki was walking on the highways. She heard a neigh of a horse and looked back. There was a black suited rider on a black motorbike. The rider stopped beside Miyuki.

"Hey Celty-chan. Where are you going?"

Celty took out her PDA and typed on it.

[I just finished work.]

After showing Miyuki what she typed, she added more to the sentence.

[Now I'm on my way to a store.]

"I see. I bet you're going to buy some chocolate and give it to Shinra on Valentine's day, right?"

[H…how did you know that?]

"Well it's pretty obvious, since it's almost that day. So, are you going to give him giri-choko or honmei-choko?"

Celty stayed still for a moment, and then she began typing again.

[I want to give him homei-choko, but I don't know if it will taste alright.]

"You know….if you want I can help you make the chocolate."

Miyuki smiled.

[Really! You'll help me make chocolate for Shinra?]

"Yes, I will."

[Then, can you help me to buy the ingredients to make the chocolate?]

"Sure, I'd love to help you."

Celty made a helmet out of her 'shadows' and gave it to Miyuki. She got on the motorbike and they went to a convenience store to buy some ingredients. In the store Miyuki took the ingredients they needed to make the chocolate and put it in a basket. She took enough ingredients for both her and Celty.

"Celty-chan, do you have any free time tomorrow? If you do you can come to my place and we can make the chocolate together."

[I've got some jobs tomorrow, but I'll be free in the afternoon around 3-5 pm]

After they had bought all the ingredients they needed, Miyuki gave Celty her address.

The next day, Celty came to Miyuki's apartment and they cooked the chocolate together. As Miyuki made her chocolate, Celty followed her steps. First she chopped a bar of raw chocolate into small pieces and put it in a plastic bowl. Then she placed the plastic bowl filled with chopped chocolate on top of a pot of boiling water that had the right amount of temperature to melt chocolate and they waited for the chocolate to melt.

-I wonder who will Miyu-chan will give her chocolate to.

Miyuki glanced at Celty and smiled.

"You're wondering who I'm going to give this chocolate to, aren't you Celty-chan?"

Celty gave a sign by nodding.

"I'm going to give it to Shizuo."

Hearing what Miyuki just said, Celty was surprised. She typed on her PDA.

[Do you like Shizuo?]

"Umm…I like him as a friend. I usually give chocolate to my friends on Valentine's day. But this year none of my friends are around because they don't live in Ikebukuro."

[I see. I though that you were going to confess to Shizuo on Valentine's day when you give him the chocolate.]

After the chocolate melted Miyuki stirred it gently and Celty followed her. The stirred melted chocolate was poured into some small circle shaped cups, and they also poured the chocolate into a large heart shaped plate. Then they put the small shaped cups and the large heart shaped plates into the fridge so the chocolate will harden.

[Are we finished after the chocolate has hardened?]

"Not yet. Next, we'll crave some words on the large heart shaped chocolate and then wrap the chocolate."

[Crave some words?]

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to. It's just an add of decorations. But if you want to you can crave something like 'I Love You' on the chocolate."

The chocolate was hard now and Celty thought about what she wanted to write on the chocolate. She wrote "I Love You Shinra" on the heart shaped chocolate and wrapped up all the chocolate into a cute looking present. Miyuki didn't do anything to her chocolate and just left it in the fridge.

Celty was about to leave Miyuki's apartment, but she typed something on her PDA before doing so.

[Aren't you going to write something on your chocolate, Miyu-chan?]

"I'll do something with it later. I'm not sure what to write on it now."

[Well, thanks for everything. I'll be going now.]

"See you, and take care. I'm sure Shinra will be really happy to receive your honmei-choko."

If Celty had a face, her cheeks would be blushing right now.

* * *

I guess I kind of rushed this -_-'

Next chapter: Valentine's Day


	19. Valentine's Day

I had to do some research before making this chapter so it took some time but still doesn't look so great -_-'

Tell me if there are any typos

I will start writing the next chapter once I get 10 reviews XP

* * *

It was Valentine's day in Ikebukuro. If you walk though the streets, you might see some girls giving chocolate to boys.

**An upscale apartment building on the side of Kawagoe Highway**

"Uwahh Celty I'm so happy! I was happy enough to accept any chocolate that you give me, but for you to go out of your way and make me chocolate. It's too good to be true."

Shinra was squirming out of joy and happiness. He opened the wrapping paper of the chocolate. Shinra's eyes popped to the size of saucers as he put on an extremely happy face.

"You even wrote 'I Love You Shinra' on the chocolate! I love you too Celty! Uwahh that hurts that hurts that hurts!"

Celty jabbed Shinra's stomach as he tried to glomp her.

After they both calmed down, Shinra ate one of the chocolates.

[How does it taste?]

[Does it taste weird?]

"Don't worry Celty. Anything you make tastes good and this chocolate is really delicious."

[I'm glad you like it. Miyu-chan helped me to make it.]

"So, Miyu-chan helped you make this?"

[Yes. We both made chocolate together at her apartment.]

[I followed her when she was making her chocolate.]

"I see. But who is she going to give her chocolate to? I remember her saying that she didn't have a boyfriend. Could it be that there's someone that Miyu-chan likes?"

[No, she's just giving it to Shizuo.]

"Eh? Does she like Shizuo?"

[I was surprised too when I heard it. But she's just giving it as a friend.]

[She said that she usually gives her friends chocolate on Valentine's day]

**Somewhere In Ikebukuro**

Miyuki was walking through the streets wearing a light blue blouse and she brought a hand bag with her.

It was around 10 am. Tom and Shizuo were also walking through the streets. They were on there way to find someone who hasn't paid their debt as usual.

"So, Shizuo. Miyu-chan is going to give you chocolate today, right?"

"That's what she said. But I'm fine if she doesn't give me any."

"Don't be like that. I'm sure she'll give you one, since she said she would. Hmm?"

Tom stopped in his tracks. Shizuo stopped as well with question marks all over his face.

"What is it?"

"Isn't that Miyu-chan?"

Tom pointed his index finger to a girl that was standing beside a vending machine. The girl was looking up at the sky like she was thinking about something. The two men approached her.

"Yo, Miyu-chan."

The girl turned her head to the person that called her name.

"Ah, Tom-san, Shizuo."

"What are you doing here?"

-What perfect timing. Now she can give chocolate to Shizuo, then he'll cheer up.

"I'm not really doing anything. I was just thinking what I should do today since things didn't go as it was planned."

-Eh? Why doesn't she just give him the chocolate already? Don't tell me she's not going to.

"What didn't go as planned, Miyuki?"

"I made a promise with my friend to go to Namja Town together, but something came up and she couldn't come."

-Seriously? She's not going to give him any chocolate.

Shizuo and Miyuki kept talking as Tom was confused on what happened to Miyuki's Valentine's day chocolate.

"What happened to your friend?"

"The car she was riding broke down in the middle of nowhere so she's stuck. I still want to go to Namja Town though, but going there alone is no fun."

"Don't you have other friends to go there with?"

"None of my friends are in Ikebukuro. They're all out of town and you have work to do, and even if I have a friend that isn't far from Ikebukuro it will still take some time to get here. Namja Town isn't worth going to if you're only there for a while."

"Yeah, you're right."

-I guess there's no other choice.

"Shizuo."

"What is it, Tom-san?"

"Why don't you with Miyu-chan to Namja Town?"

Surprised to hear what Tom just said Shizuo and Miyuki both muttered "Huh?"

"I don't really mind, but what about work?"

"There's no need for Shizuo to go out with me and I wouldn't want him to skip work just because of something this ridiculous."

"Don't worry about it. Today's schedule is pretty loose and I can take care of it by myself. Besides, Shizuo, you deserve to take a break once in a while."

"Are you sure? I really don't want to disturb your work."

"Like I just said its fine. Just go and have fun you two."

-If I don't do this Shizuo might get irritated tomorrow.

And with that said Tom went in a separated way from Shizuo and Miyuki. As they were headed to Namja Town Miyuki still felt a little uneasy for making Shizuo ditch his work.

"I wonder if this really ok."

"Tom-san said it fine, right?"

"Yes, but still….anyway we should bring him something as a souvenir."

"Ok."

Not long after that Miyuki seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hmmm….."

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking. Tom-san really seems like a nice guy and he isn't afraid of you. Did you two know each other before working together?"

"He was my senpai in middle school."

"So, that's where you two first met. No offence, but I though he was a little to close to you if you just met him when you got your job."

A smile appeared on Miyuki's face.

"Is it that weird if someone is close with me?"

Shizuo said in a rather sarcastic tone. Miyuki's expression didn't change.

"No, it's not weird. It's just that not everyone that works together is actually close. Besides, I'm close to you, aren't I?"

Shizuo couldn't say anything. Miyuki just said that they were 'close' but is that true? He doesn't know. So, he just continued walk in silence.

**Sunshine City, 2****nd**** floor, Namja Town entrance**

"We're here!"

They have arrived at Namja Town. Miyuki insisted in paying for the admission and passport since Shizuo was supposed to work if it wasn't for her.

Namja Town is among the biggest and best of Japan's indoor theme-parks. This food-themed park is full of unique attractions such as the Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City, with 24 different attractions in all. Being an indoor park, visitors need not worry about rain ruining their day.

As soon as they got in, Miyuki grabbed Shizuo's hand and started to run towards a certain attraction.

"O-oi! Where are we going? There's no need to rush."

Shizuo said as Miyuki dragged him with her. It's not that he couldn't stop her force, but he just went along since she seems so excited.

"We're going to the haunted house first and of course we have to rush. This town is too big to go around in one day, so if we run we might be able to see more attractions than when we walk."

In the haunted house Miyuki seemed to be more happy than scared. The place was dark and there were a lot of lanterns throughout the way and ghost cat statues (some were cute, the others were scary). In the haunted house they could go into different rooms and trigger different events.

"Ok. Shizuo press that button."

"Why don't you press it yourself?"

The two argued on who should press the buttons to trigger the events at some times. The haunted house wasn't really scary but it often surprises the people in it.

After going through the haunted house Shizuo and Miyuki went to the Gyoza Stadium to eat lunch there. There were a lot of gyoza stands that they took some time to choose which stands to go to.

Next, they went to Ice Cream Town and ate some ice cream. It seemed like all the flavours of ice cream that was ever created in the world was in that place. There was about 300 flavours of ice cream to choose from, including: cheese, pear wine, indian curry, salt, yakisoba, garlic, octopus, sweet potato, snake, ect.

It was 5 pm. Shizuo and Miyuki had went around Namja Town long enough, so they decided to get out before it gets dark. They went to Higashi Ikebukuro Central Park and sat on a bench near the fountain. There was a group of men in the park that were talking to each other.

"So, did you get any chocolate this year?"

"No, I didn't. Me and Valentine's just don't get along."

"Too bad for you. I got chocolate from my girlfriend this year."

"What? I didn't even know you had a girlfriend!"

"Tee hee."

Shizuo could hear the conversation of the group of men from the bench. He couldn't help but wonder if Miyuki will actually give him any chocolate. They've been together all day, yet she didn't even mention anything about Valentine's day. She didn't seem like the type of person to forget or break a promise, and she certainly seems like someone who would apologize if she did. Without him noticing it, he was actually looking forward to the chocolate that Miyuki said she would give to him even if it was just a little bit.

"Thanks for accompanying me today in place of my friend that couldn't make it."

Shizuo, whose thoughts were wondering around finally came back to his senses as Miyuki spoke to him.

"No problem. We're friends after all."

"Oh, here's some gyoza that I brought for Tom-san."

She said as she handed the gyoza to Shizuo.

"By the way…why did you bring a hand bag with you today? You don't usually carry something with you."

"You mean this? I just use it sometimes when I feel like it will suit my cloths."

Miyuki stood up from the bench and stretched her arms while looking at the sky that was getting darker as the sun sets.

"I really had fun today."

Her cell phone rang. She got a text message. Shizuo could see a slight look of seriousness on her face after she read the text message.

"Sorry, but I have to go now. Something came up."

"Ah, did something bad happen?"

"It's nothing bad, but it will be if I don't go now."

"Ok, see you."

"See you later Shizuo."

Miyuki left the park running, leaving Shizuo behind on the park bench.

-I guess it was stupid of me to even hope for any chocolate from the beginning.

Shizuo took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Tom-san, it's me. Is there still any work that needs to be taken care of?"

It was late at night and Shizuo was on his way home. When he met with Tom there were still a few people that they had to recover money from. Tom tried to convince Shizuo that Miyuki probably forgot to buy any chocolate for him, but it was no use. Shizuo has given up the though of ever getting any chocolate on Valentine's day.

When Shizuo was close to his place he could see someone was standing outside his door. As he got closer the figure of the person seemed to be a girl, and when he was in reach to see who it was, it was Miyuki.

"Shizuo! You're finally home!"

She shouted at Shizuo who was still a bit far from the door and waved at him then she ran towards him. She was now right in front of Shizuo.

"Miyuki? What are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about? I came here to give you your Valentine's day chocolate of course."

Miyuki took out a pretty wrapped box out of her hand bag and gave it to Shizuo. Shizuo who was no longer concerned about the chocolate was surprised. All he did was stare at the box that Miyuki gave him.

"You didn't actually think I forgot, did you? I was just thinking for the right time to give it to you, but then something came up so I'm giving it to you now."

Shizuo's lips opened slowly as he began to speak.

"You're…giving this to me?"

"Didn't I just say that? You know, I actually had a hard time figuring out what to write on the chocolate when I was making it with Celty-chan. In the end I finally knew what to write on it at 1 am."

She didn't mention anything about Valentine's day when they were together all day, and now she suddenly shows up in front of his place and gives him chocolate. Shizuo was speechless. There was something he wanted to say to her, but when he looked at her face no words could come out of his mouth.

"Well, it's getting really late and I'm feeling sleepy, so see ya."

And just like that she went off again.

When Shizuo got inside, he went to sit in the kitchen and opened the pretty wrapped box. As he looked at the chocolate he cracked a smile.

"She really knows what makes others happy, doesn't she?"

On the big heart shaped chocolate it was written 'May Love and Peace Always Be With You'

* * *

Please review :D

Next Chapter: How She Makes Me Feel


	20. How She Makes Me Feel

Screw my last announcement. I'll update whenever I feel like it. Even if that means the next day or next month or even next year XP

Thanks for those who read my fic (even if you don't review)

Note: This chapter is written in Shizuo's point of view

* * *

I screwed up again, just like I did back then. How did it come to this? I didn't want to hurt her.

Miyuki was lying on the ground under a vending machine that leaned on the wall of a building as everyone around just stopped and stared.

**In the morning that day**

I'm starting to get ready for another day dealing with annoying people with their annoying excuses.

The sky doesn't look bright today and it looks like it's going to rain, so brought an umbrella with me when I got out.

It was peaceful at the time I walked though the streets going to my work place. If only that peace could keep up all day, but that's not going to happen. I hate violence, yet there's always something thing that triggers my anger and makes me violent. It could either be a random bastard or the flea shows up and there are other things that make me mad.

Now I'm on my way to someone's house to collect their debt with Tom-san. On our way, Tom-san started a conversation.

"Shizuo. You seem like your usual self now, no you actually look happier than usual. Did you finally settle things with Miyu-chan?"

"Kind of. She came to my place yesterday late at night and gave me a box of chocolate."

"So, she didn't forget after all. Isn't that great?"

"I guess so."

I just acted natural, but actually I was really happy. No girl has ever given me anything before, except for the bakery lady that I met when I was little. She gave me a bottle of milk.

"You really like her, don't you Shizuo?"

That question struck me and I looked away to hide my shy face from Tom-san. I do like her and I can't deny that fact, but being friends with her was more than enough for me. Even though she gave me honmei-choko on Valentine's day, I know she gave it to me as a friend. What would happen if I actually told her that I liked her? Would she accept my feelings or not? Would we still be able to keep the relationship we have until now if I told her? Just thinking about it makes me dizzy.

"Hey, Shizuoooo!"

A familiar sound of a girl called me from behind. Speak of the devil, it was Miyuki as usual, but if it wasn't her it would have been Mairu, since no other girls would call out me like that.

"Hey guys. I was just passing by and though I'd say hey."

It's her alright. Her and her usual cheerful smile that now seems so dazzling to me. She knows who I am and what I'm like, yet she's not afraid of me.

"Hi, Miyu-chan. You sure seem more cheerful than usual."

"It's nothing, I just had a good feeling after looking at the sky."

She had a good feeling after looking at the sky? It's so gray and cloudy that it's kind of making me gloomy. But I guess her optimism might be one of her charms that makes her sparkling to me.

"Well I have work today, so I'll be going now."

"You're going to work with those clothes?"

She was wearing casual clothes as usual, yet she was actually going to work?

"Well, you're a debt collector that works with a bartender suit, so I don't see any problem with me working with casual clothes."

After going separate ways with Miyuki, Tom-san started talking again when we were quite far from where Miyuki is.

"Weren't you mad back then when Miyu-chan mentioned about your clothes. Because the last time someone made fun of your clothes, you sent them flying."

"No, I'm not mad. What she said was true and she wasn't making fun of my clothes or anything. So, it's fine."

Come to think of it, I never told her why I always wear a bartender suit nor did she ever ask me why I always wear it. Maybe she just doesn't care about what other people wear.

It's lunch time now. Me and Tom-san went to a chain restaurant to have lunch and take a break.

"Shizuo. About what I asked earlier before Miyu-chan showed up. You like her, right?"

Why did he bring that topic up again? I might as well answer the question, since Tom-san is one of the few people I can open up to.

"Yes, I do."

"Then, why don't you just tell her already? You two are already pretty close."

"I just think it's better to keep things the way they are now."

"If you say so."

Things are already great the way they are. I don't want it to change. Just being good friends with Miyuki was more than what I deserve, I couldn't possibly ask for more.

It's afternoon and nothing has made me mad yet, and that was kind of odd. I keep getting a bad feeling that something really bad is going to happen today. Was it just me? Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a group of men I don't even know.

"You're going down today Heiwajima Shizuo!" One of them said.

Then all of the men charged at me. I guess it really is hard for me to have a peaceful day. I wasn't 'mad' yet, but then one of them pulled out a pocket knife out and damaged my clothes. Not only did that guy damage my clothes, he also made me remember about the flea and that really pisses me off. I began to attack back.

Punch. Kick. Throw into the air by force. That's just how I do things.

One of those scums tried to run away, so I grabbed a nearby vending machine and threw it at his direction. Darn it, it missed him. He dodged the vending machine, but what really surprised me was the girl that was walking ahead of him and now in danger of getting hit by the vending machine I threw. It was Miyuki. What is she doing here in a time like this? Isn't she supposed to be at work?

The vending machine hit her, and now she's lying down on the ground without moving a single inch. Everyone around me just stood where they were in shock, that includes the scums, Tom-san and me. Is she dead? It's all my fault, I'm the one to blame. No matter how hard I try to protect someone, I always end up hurting them in the end. As I was drowning in guilt she started to move.

"Shizuo." She said in a weak voice I could barely hear.

She's still alive. I was glad that she was still alive. She crawled out from under the vending machine and tried to stand up straight as her right arm held on to her left shoulder. Blood was leaking out from her forehead and dripping down her face. She walked up to me. I felt like I couldn't move, as if my legs were glued to the ground I'm standing on. When she was in front of me, I didn't know what to do. What should I do in a situation like this? She looked up at me with a serious face and then:

"Shizuo, you idiot!"

Eh? She's yelling at me?

"I already have enough problems that I have to take care of and what do I get? A flying vending machine that popped out of nowhere and knocked me down!"

She's injured, she's bleeding, yet she's yelling at me like a mother scolding her child.

"Seriously! Could you just stop throwing anything you get a hold of, even if you're angry!"

I had no idea on how to respond.

"If this keeps up someone might get seriously injured! What if you accidentally hit an innocent little girl with a vending machine?"

She was really furious right now. Just like before everyone was just standing where they were. The sight of an injured bleeding girl that's completely furious was actually scarier than seeing a girl lying helpless on the ground to the people around me.

"Have you even though about the consequence of your actions?"

Tom-san walked over to Miyuki and tapped her on her right shoulder.

"Are you ok, miyu-chan?"

It was actually a pretty weird question to ask, but what else could he say. Miyuki that was furious a second ago seemed to have calmed down that instant.

"Ah, now that you mention it. My head feels kind of light."

At that moment she had lost he posture and fell down, but Tom-san caught her before she hit the ground.

"This is bad. We should take her to a hospital, but it would be bad if they asked us how she got injured."

"Then I'll take her to Shinra's place."

And that's how my day went.

* * *

Please review or at least tell me what you think about he chapter or even a critic would be acceptable :D

Next Chapter: Guilty


	21. Guilty

Does this chapter seem rushed? Because I made it in about 2 hours.

please tell me what you think and review ^_^

Note: This chapter is written in Miyuki's point of view (except for the end)

* * *

Owww. My head feels kind of dizzy and my left arm feels sore. What happened to me? Oh yeah, I got hit by a vending machine.

**Remembering what happened before the incident occurred**

Those elders are slacking off and I'm the one who has to cover up for them. Why can't they just do their job right without bothering me? It's not that I wanted to be their principal, but I have no choice.

Damn just thinking about all the paper work I'll have to do and finish before the deadline is making me feel so frustrated! What made me even more frustrated was that they said they had finished the job, but when I check it the haven't finished it. Now I'll have to finish the work for them, since they still have other work to do.

I wouldn't mind if it was a job that I actually had to do, but this is their job. They should be more responsible. Not to mention their way older than me.

"Uwahhhhh!"

Huh? What's all the commotion? Eh? What's that? Isn't that a...

*Bang*

**Back to the present**

Damn it! I could've dodged it if I wasn't so angry back then. Come to think of it where am I?

I looked around me and found myself lying on a futon inside a room. My left arm was covered in bandages, it seems like it's broken. My head was also covered in bandages. I was wearing a pink pajama. This place seems kind of familiar. I heard footsteps heading towards the room, and the door opened.

"Miyu-chan you're awake!"

It was Shinra. So, I'm in Shinra's and Celty's apartment now.

"Hey, Shinra-kun. How did I get here?"

"Shizuo carried you here. He was really worried about you and told me to contact him as soon as you wake up. I'll call him now."

Shinra left the room, and then Celty came in. She typed on her PDA and showed the words to me.

[How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere?]

"I still feel a little tired. My arm was kind of sore, but it's fine now."

I smiled to make it sound more reassuring and so she wouldn't worry too much. I actually feel better now after being conscious for a few minutes.

[That's good to hear. I was worried when you didn't wake up for a long time.]

"Um, Celty-chan. How long was I asleep?"

[You've been sleeping for 2 days straight.]

I stood up as soon as I finished reading what Celty typed.

Oh, crap! I don't have time to be lying around like this! I have to go and do the unfinished paper work!

"Sorry, but I have to go now!"

Celty tried to stop me as walked towards the door. It seem like Celty typed something on her PDA like "You should still rest" but I still insisted on going. It was then Shinra stood in front of the door I just opened.

"Miyu-chan, where do you think you're going? You're in no condition to move around."

"But I have a lot of work that I have to finish as soon as possible!"

Celty held me back from moving any further.

"Oh, about your work. You got a call from someone about it yesterday, and I told that person that you're seriously injured. So, he said you should just rest and leave the job to those who were responsible in the first place.

"Eh? So it's already taken care of?"

"Yep, now you can rest without any worries, right?"

Since the work is already taken care of, there is no need for me to worry. I went straight back to the futon and laid down on it.

"You sure look like you care about your job so much, Miyu-chan."

"Well, if anything bad happens and the company is in trouble. I would be the one who has to handle it. So, of course I care about it."

I wouldn't have made a fuss if there wasn't any troubles to begin with. At least those old geezers are taking responsibility now. Now that I think about it, the reason I'm here is because I got hit by a vending machine that Shizuo threw. I wonder how he's doing.

"By the way, I just contacted Shizuo and he said he'll be here as soon as he get's off of work. To be honest, I as really surprised when Shizuo brought you here and your face was covered in blood. I heard what happened from Shizuo's boss and I was even more shocked to hear that you actually yelled at Shizuo after being hit by a vending machine. No one has ever yelled at Shizuo after being attacked by him, even if it was an accident. It was surprising enough that you were still conscious and able to move after taking a big blow like that."

[It surprised me too.]

"I was angry, that's all."

My simple answer had left the room silent. I wonder if I was too hard on Shizuo when I yelled at him. I lost my temper after all.

An hour has passed and the door bell rang. Could it be Shizuo? Celty went to open the door. Not long after Celty went, Shizuo came into the room, it was him who came after all.

For some reason he kept silent, he hasn't said a word since he got in. His face didn't seem happy to see me either, shouldn't he be happy that I'm fine. Well, not exactly fine but at least I'm still alive after getting hit by a vending machine. I didn't say anything either since I thought he wanted to speak first.

-I'm sure she hates me now.

"Miyuki. Etto, how should I say this?"

Shizuo scratched the back of his head. It seems like he has some trouble in telling me what to say or maybe he doesn't know what to say. Whatever the reason was he had trouble talking to me.

"Shizuo, there's something I want to tell you."

"What is it?"

He looked tense. Why does he look so tense?

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for yelling at you back then. It's just that I was really angry and a vending machine just came out flying out of nowhere."

I really didn't mean to yell at him back then.

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who's supposed to apologize to you. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be injured right now, you wouldn't be in this condition if it wasn't for me."

"Oh, about that. Don't worry about it, I'm fine. Besides, if I wasn't angry back then I would have been able to dodge the vending machine that you threw and none of this would have happened, and if someone didn't make you mad you wouldn't have threw that vending machine in the first place too. So, it's not really all your fault."

"It's still my fault. There's no way I could have lifted a vending machine if it wasn't for my absurd power."

"You're going to blame yourself no matter what I say, aren't you?"

He didn't say a word. Shinra and Celty that was also in the room just stayed still and quiet where they were.

"Fine, if you're going to put it that way. Go ahead and grieve over your actions."

"Miyu-chan, don't people normally say to do the opposite?"

Shinra said in confusion.

"It's important to admit when you've done something wrong. Not being able to do so makes it impossible for you to climb back up after a fall, and even more impossible for you to move forward. So go on and grieve to your heart's extent. But after you're done grieving, be sure to set your eyes upon your goal and move towards it."

I said with a smile on my face. I hope after this Shizuo won't be so hard on himself.

"I never knew you could say something so wise, Miyu-chan. You definitely just sounded older than your age."

I glared at Shinra's direction.

"Are you calling me old?"

"Th-th-that's not what I meant. What I mean is that your very wise for someone your age."

"Hahahaha. I was just kidding. There's no need to be so nervous."

~Towa ni hitotsu no negai kanaete~

"Isn't that my ring tone?"

"Sounds like you have a call. I'll bring your cell phone here."

Shinra went out to get me my cell phone.

"Hello?"

"**Hey Miyu, how are you?"**

"Kazu! Well other than having a broken arm, I'm fine."

"**You broke your arm? Did you get hit by a car again?**"

"I did not get hit by a car again! Sheesh, just because I've been hit by a car twice and got a broken arm doesn't mean every time my arm is broken it's because I got hit by a car!"

"**But the possibilities are big. Anyway, how did you break your arm anyway?**"

"Your making it sound like I did it on purpose. Anyway, I got hit by a vending machine, that's why my arm is broken."

"…"

"Hello? Kazu? Are you still there?"

"**Yeah, I'm still here. I just called to let you know that I'll be back in Ikebukuro by tomorrow. Yumiko has other things to do so she won't be coming with me. I'll go and visit you once I get there.**"

"Ok, but I'm not staying at my apartment now so I'll send you the address of where I'm staying later though a text message."

"**Alright. I hope you get well soon.**"

Even though it didn't sound like it, Kazu was actually worried about me. It's always been like that since we became friends.

"I think I'll go back to sleep now."

"It's better if you do, so your injuries will recover. Just call me or Celty if you need anything."

Everyone left the room and I went back to sleep. Shizuo didn't say anything before he went out. I know he must feel really guilty for what has happened, but still. It kind of makes me feel responsible for making him feel guilty. Has something like this happened before in his past? If it has, then it makes me feel guilty for making him feel guilty. Why are humans so complicated?

**On the balcony**

Shizuo was staring at the view that could be seen from the balcony.

-"grieve to your heart's extent" huh? That's the weirdest comforting sentence I've ever heard.

-She's not mad at me after I hit her with a vending machine. She even apologized to me when she didn't have to.

-Why is she like that?

-Maybe it's better if we aren't so close. That way she wouldn't get hurt by me.

-It's happened once, it can happen again if she's around me.

* * *

Next Chapter: Healing


	22. Healing

I was kind of confused when I wrote this because I had so many ideas and this is how it turned out

Please review :D

* * *

It's night time and Shizuo was just allowed to go home. He walked out from the office building and was headed straight home.

"It's about time you got out. I got kind of tired of waiting for you."

Shizuo looked to the direction where the voice came from and saw a man leaning on a wall with his arms crossed.

"Aren't you Kuroba? What are you doing here?"

Kazuo straightened up and walked towards Shizuo.

"Didn't I just say that I was waiting for you? Anyway we need to talk."

He walked off to a different direction while giving a gesture that Shizuo should follow him. Shizuo just stood still at where he was standing and stared at Kazuo as he went further away. Knowing that Shizuo wasn't following him, Kazuo stopped in hi tracks.

"It's about Miyu."

Kazuo said in a serious tone to convince Shizuo into following him.

Kazuo brought Shizuo to Ikebukuro South Park where it was quiet and not many people were there at night. They sat on a bench and Shizuo was the first to stir up the conversation.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about Miyuki?"

"I just went to visit her today and she told me everything that happened and why her arm is broken."

-So, that's how it is.

A smirk appeared on Shizuo's face.

"I get it now. You came here to tell me that I should stay away and never have contact with her or something like that. Since you think of her as a little sister and all."

"Not really. I have no rights to forbid her from being friends with anyone she wants to, even if I was her real brother. It's true that you were the cause of Miyu's broken arm, but that was an accident. Though it would be a different story if you did it on purpose."

The tone of Kazuo's voice became deep in his last sentence making it sound kind of threatening.

"You've been thinking of cutting off all ties with her ever since the accident, haven't you, Shizuo-kun?"

-How did he know that?

"Well, let me just tell you that it's no use. Once you're involved with Miyu and become good friends with her, it's hard to cut off all ties with her. Even if you ignore her, she'll just keep showing up, either you want it or not. Because that's just the kind of person she is."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Why? Maybe it's because I've felt that way before. Something bad happened to her because of me, so I decided to cut off all ties with her. But when I tried to do that, I ended up getting a punched in the face by her."

Kazuo chuckled in the end of his sentence.

"Besides, if you think about it, nothing will really change even if you do cut off all ties with her. Even if you didn't know her from the start she would've been hit by that vending machine anyway. That's because it was an accident."

Shizuo pondered Kazuo's words for a moment. It was true. Either if he knew Miyuki or not she would've been hit by the vending machine that he threw. Cutting off all ties with her won't change anything. It could still happen either if he was close to her or not, in fact it could happen to anyone.

"Anyway, it seems that you're already pretty close to Miyu, aren't you?"

"What about it?"

"Since you're already close to Miyu, I think it's about time that you know more about her background."

"Huh?"

Kazuo told Shizuo everything that he knew about Miyuki's past. How her parents were always busy, how lonely she was, how her parents died, how many deaths that she has seen, he told them all.

"Whatever you're going to do next is up to you."

And just like that Kazuo left the park. Shizuo was still sitting on the park bench after Kazuo left.

-I never knew she had such a dark past.

-How can she still smile after everything that she's been through?

-How could she be the cheerful girl she is now?

Shizuo kept thinking of those things all night until he fell to sleep on his bed.

Later that night Miyuki's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"**Hello, Miyu-chan.**"

A quite cheerful voice was heard from the other side of the phone.

"**How's your arm? I heard that you got hit by a vending machine because of Shizu-chan, not that anyone else could throw that thing besides him.**"

The voice sounded mischievous.

"Izaya-kun? What are you doing calling me so late at night?"

"**Don't be mean Miyu-chan. I just wanted to know how you were doing.**"

"For your information, I'm fine."

"**That's good to hear. So, do you still think that Shizu-chan is a nice guy now?**"

"Yes, I do. He's nicer than you at least."

"**What? You're so mean Miyu-chan. I'm way nicer than that barbaric monster.**"

"Whatever. You went through the trouble to find my cell phone number and information about how my condition is, you really are stalking me, aren't you?"

"**Now you're accusing me of being a stalker, you're so cruel. Like I said, I just wanted to know how you were doing. Anyway, it's nice to know that you're doing well. See ya.**"

Izaya had hung up before Miyuki could say anything else. Miyuki stared at her cell phone for a while. She saved Izaya's number in her contacts just in case that she might need it but there wasn't any real reason why she did it.

-I guess that I've become the target of a weird human lover now.

**An office somewhere in Shinjuku**

Izaya was spinning happily on his chair.

"Hahahahaha…you really are an interesting human being Miyu-chan"

He stopped spinning and stood up from the chair. He looked outside the window with a smirk on his face.

-It's kind of surprising that she still thinks Shizu-chan is a nice guy after that.

-I wonder if she can accept me as a friend too.

-She is on Shizu-chan's side after all.

-I wonder if she hates me.

-It's going to be hard to use her if she hates me.

It's been a week since Miyuki got hit by a vending machine. Now her arm was no longer wrapped in bandages.

"It's surprising that your arm is all healed in just one week."

"Maybe it's because I drink a lot of milk and dried fish everyday."

Miyuki said with an innocent smile on her face. Celty typed something on her PDA and showed it to Shinra.

[Does a lot of milk and dried fish really make your bones heal faster?]

"It does, but not this fast. It should have took a month at least to recover, even though it was a light injury."

"Well, it's just like they say. All well that ends well."

"I wouldn't say that it started well. You did sleep for two whole days after fainting due to blood loss."

"That's just because I haven't been getting enough back then."

"Just don't over do it because your arm isn't fully healed yet."

"Don't worry. I got news that everything is fine at work so there's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, really?"

Kazuo said in a deep tone. He just got in the room placed his right hand on Miyuki's head.

"Really. I won't push myself too hard and over do it."

Kazuo lowered his head until it was equal with Miyuki's head's height and said:

"I hope you're telling the truth because you're not the type of person that can stay still in one place unless someone watches over you."

"I promise."

He let go of Miyuki's head and straighten up.

"Now that's more like it."

Shinra giggled after looking at the both of them.

[What's funny?]

"Those two look just like their siblings, don't they?"

Celty analyzed the two of them with whatever things she uses to see.

[Now that you mention it, they do look like their siblings.]

"By the way, did Shizuo-kun come and visit you again lately?"

"Yes, he did. He comes by every day when he has the time and not working. But he doesn't say anything when he's here. Maybe he still feels a little guilty."

"I see. So, that's how it is."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing. Since your better now why don't we go out and eat something. I'll be paying."

"Yay! Kazu's treating. Why don't you come with us, Shinra-kun, Celty-chan."

"No, were fine. You two can just go ahead."

"Oh, come on. My arm just healed and I want to eat with everyone."

"No, really we're…"

Before Shinra could finish his sentence, Celty shoved her PDA where everyone could read it.

[Fine, we'll join you two.]

"Eh? Really? We're going?"

Shinra asked in confusion. Celty nodded. It was the middle of the day and for Celty to go out to eat somewhere is unlikely.

[It's ok. Miyu-chan did just get better.]

"Alright, let's go to Russia Sushi!"

Miyuki was happy and all hyped up.

On their way to Russia Sushi, they met up with Tom and Shizuo.

"Tom-san, Shizuo. Where are you two going?"

"Ah, Miyu-chan we're on our way to eat lunch now and it looks like your arm has healed."

"Yeah, it's healed but Shinra said I should take it easy just to be safe. Why don't you two join us to eat at Russia Sushi. Kazu's treating us."

Miyuki pointed her index finger at Kazuo who was standing beside her.

"O-oi, are you trying to make me broke."

Miyuki puts on an innocent looking face with wide sparkling eyes and said:

"Please."

Kazuo signed.

"Alright, but just this once."

"Yay!"

So, Miyuki, Kazuo, Shinra, Celty, Tom, and Shizuo went to Russia Sushi.

* * *

Next Chapter: I Want To Be Strong


	23. I Want To Be Strong

I didn't really plan the ending of this chapter and the idea just popped out of my head XP

Please review and I mean it! (since it seems like the viewing traffic is broken on FF net 16/4/2011)

* * *

Everyone has finished eating at Russia Sushi and Simon waved goodbye to everyone.

"Come back again and eat more sushi. Sushi good, sushi cheap, come eat sushi."

Miyuki turned back and waved back at Simon.

"Sure, we'll definitely come back and eat a lot."

Shinra and Celty went back to their apartment. Tom said that the job was canceled because their target has pair his debt straight to the office while they were taking a break and let Shizuo go for the day. Kazuo said that he had something he had to do and went off somewhere.

Miyuki and Shizuo didn't really plan on where they were going and just walked through the streets in silence. Miyuki gazed her eyes to Shizuo.

-He's been really quiet in front of me lately.

-Even if he still feels guilty this has been far too long.

-I mean, we already talked about it and all.

Miyuki stopped in her tracks for a moment. After she stopped for a while she called out to Shizuo that was now a distance away.

"Shizuo!"

Shizuo turned around to look at her and grunted.

"What is it?"

"You don't have any plans for the rest of the day, do you?"

Shizuo placed the both of his hands in his pockets.

"No, I don't."

A little mischievous smile appeared on Miyuki's face as she slowly walked towards Shizuo.

"Then, you wouldn't mind if I took you somewhere now, would you?"

"Huh?"

Shizuo looked confused. Miyuki that was now right in front of Shizuo grabbed his right arm and dragged him while she ran a little. Being dragged out of nowhere Shizuo's puzzled look remained on his face as he followed her.

"O-oi… where are we going?"

Miyuki just smiled at him as they continue to run forwards and said:

"You'll know when we get there."

Shizuo wanted to stop her from running but he was afraid of injuring her arm again.

"Wherever we're going we don't have to run, right? Just slow down, you'll hurt your arm again."

After hearing what Shizuo said Miyuki didn't slow down her pace, she even increased her speed.

"Oi! Are you listening to me?"

"Don't worry so much, Shizuo. Just running a little won't hurt and what's doing all the work are my legs not my arm. Geez, you're starting to sound like Kazu."

Shizuo just sighed and followed Miyuki while trying his hardest not to resist her force.

After running for a few minutes, Miyuki stopped in front of an office building. Shizuo looked up at the tall building and then gazed at Miyuki that was still holding is arm.

"Where are we?"

"This is my office."

Miyuki said with a bright smile on her face. There wasn't a trace of tiredness on her face, even after all that running.

"Well, let's go inside."

Miyuki pulled Shizuo to get in the building.

-Don't tell me she's going to work now.

As the two went inside the building some of the employees in that office greeted Miyuki and asked her about her condition but before she could answer any of their questions a man in a dark blue suit approached them. It doesn't seem like anyone was paying attention at Shizuo's presents or did they know who he was and didn't want to cause any trouble.

"Kanzaki-sama, what are you doing here? Is your arm alright?"

"Hi, Kojiro. I just came here to stop by and go to the roof. My arm is alright now but the doctor said I should take it easy."

-'Sama'? Why did he call her name with a 'sama'?

"Well, it's good to see that you're doing fine. All of the work has already been taken care of so you can relax and if you need anything just call me, Kanzaki-sama."

The two entered an elevator and got out at the top of the building. Miyuki let go of Shizuo's arm when she got out of the elevator. Miyuki stretched out her arms to the sky as she took a deep breath of the breezing wind.

"You really like high places don't you, Miyuki?"

"Yeah, this place isn't as high as Sunshine 60 but it's pretty high and it has a nice view."

The two of them stood at the edge behind the safety bars that was near the very edge of the building. They didn't say anything until Miyuki broke the silence.

"Since when were you strong, Shizuo?"

That question just came out of the blue. Shizuo didn't answer just yet since he was surprised by Miyuki's sudden question.

"I mean, have you been as strong as you are now from birth or some other point of your life."

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"Just curious."

Shizuo looked up at the clear sky. And paused for a moment before answering Miyuki's question.

"Well, I wasn't this strong since my birth but it all started when I was in the fifth grade of elementary."

Shizuo began to tell Miyuki about his past on how he knew about his abnormal strength, how he screwed up, how he knew Shinra and Izaya, how he got his job now, and he even told her about his famous brother that was known as Hanejima Yuuhei.

"I see, but why did you tell me all this? I just asked since when were you strong."

"That's because I've heard everything about your past so I thought it we would be even if I told you about my past."

Miyuki sighed. She turned around and leaned her back on the safety bar.

"I bet Kazu told you, didn't he? Well, I guess that saves me from telling you the story myself."

Another moment of silence went though but this time Shizuo was the one who broke it.

"What about you?"

"Hmm…what do you mean? what about me?"

"Have you always been a strong girl like you are now?"

"That question seems kind of weird coming from you, but of course not. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that, Kuroba told me you defeated him when the two of you first met."

"Oh, that. I did beat him back then but that doesn't mean that I've been strong all my life you know."

"So, how did you become strong? There must be a reason for a girl to be strong, right?"

Miyuki looked down and stared at her feet then looked up at the sky. Her face was no longer wearing her usual cheerful and carefree expression. She had a serious look on her face now.

"Well, after my parents died I've decided that I wanted to become strong. I want to be strong, strong enough to take care of myself and not be a burden to others, that way even if there's no one there to save me I'll be able to save myself. So, I practice and trained everyday, before I knew it I was strong enough to take care of myself like I wanted. But then I thought that it wasn't enough."

Miyuki raised her right hand towards the sky as if she was reaching for something.

"I wanted to be stronger so I can save those who are dear to me and I trained more and more."

She clenched her hand that was raised to the sky then Shizuo shrugged and put his hands in his pocket.

"Then how can you be so cheerful?"

Miyuki that was gazing at her clenched hand that was raised up to the sky averted her gaze straight to Shizuo and lowered her clenched hand slowly until it was in front of her chest.

"What do you mean?"

"Why can you smile? Why can you be so cheerful after all that you've been though?"

Miyuki cracked a small smile on her face that was serious just a second ago and looked at her clenched hand that was in front of her.

"Why? You ask."

She released her clench and relaxed her hand.

"That's because I accept thing the way they are."

She turned around to see the view that could be seen from that high building and the little smile on her face grew wider.

"When I was still little I once though that I was the one that should be dead. But then I realized that I should be grateful that I'm still alive. Even if I did die nothing good will come of it. So, I decided that I will live my life to the fullest and do what I want while I'm still alive so I won't have any regrets."

Miyuki turned her head to face Shizuo and gave him a smile. Shizuo smiled back at her and shrugged again.

"You really are a strong girl."

He looked at the view.

"I wish I was as strong as you."

Miyuki tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean? You're already stronger that me. Are you saying you want to be weaker?"

Shizuo laughed lightly and covered his mouth with one of his hands to lighten the sound of his laughter.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean that you are stronger than me Miyuki. You're strong enough to control your power and emotions, unlike me. That's how strong I want to be. I want to be strong enough to control my anger."

"Then let's get strong together."

Miyuki raised her fist and pointed it towards Shizuo, then Shizuo bumped his fist into hers.

"Yeah."

Suddenly, Miyuki felt someone's presents not far from where she and Shizuo was. She felt like they were being watched but she didn't make any sudden movements that would show her awareness of that certain someone. She finally knew where that person was. He was on top of a different building that was close but shorter than the office building they were on.

Without warning, Miyuki threw something to that person. Shizuo was surprised by Miyuki's sudden movements.

"What are you doing? Wasn't that a cell phone that you just threw?"

Miyuki scratched the back of her head and pointed at a shorter building.

"I-it's nothing. I thought I saw a rat on that other building and unconsciously threw a cell phone at it. But don't worry, that was a cheap phone that I won from a lottery and I don't really use it anyway."

-If Shizuo found out that someone is spying on us he might go on a rampage.

Shizuo looked at the building Miyuki pointed at but he couldn't see anything but an empty building roof top.

"Your eyes must be really sharp if you could see a rat from this distance."

"Anyway it's getting dark out here. We sure talked a lot. Let's go and have something for dinner."

The two of them went down using the elevator again and went somewhere to eat.

On top of the building that Miyuki pointed at earlier, Izaya was lying down unconscious on the floor and his forehead was all red. There was a binocular and a scattered cell phone on the floor near him. It seems like the cell phone that Miyuki threw is broken now. Izaya was unconscious either because the shock of a cell phone flying his way or that the cell phone hit him hard enough to make him faint. Whatever the reason is he is now unconscious on the floor.

* * *

I totally just made a random ending XP

Next Chapter: Misunderstanding


	24. Misunderstanding

Sorry if this chapter is a bit messy -_-'

I'm not quite sure on how to write a group conversation XP

Note:

The group of men in this chapter are the ones from the beginning of chapter 15

* * *

Shizuo and Miyuki just finished eating at Lotteria. Now the both of them are just sitting at their table and finishing their drinks. Shizuo was stirring his milkshake while Miyuki was just staring at her iced lemon tea.

-Now that I think about it, I never told anyone about why I wanted to be strong.

"Oi, Miyuki."

-I haven't even told Kazu.

"Miyuki?"

-I didn't really have to tell him about the reason. He did just ask why I was strong and the answer to that is that I trained a lot since I was little.

"Hey snap out of it!"

"Huh?"

Miyuki averted her gaze from the iced lemon tea to Shizuo that was sitting across the table. She blinked and tilted her head.

"What is it, Shizuo? Did something happen?"

Shizuo sighed and put down his milkshake on the table.

"I'm the one who should be asking you. Are you alright? You've been staring at your drink for about 5 minutes now."

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something."

Miyuki drank her iced lemon tea with a face that looks like she was in deep though.

"You know, there's something I wanted to ask you since we were at you're office."

"What is it, Shizuo?"

"Why did that guy you call 'Kojiro' called your name with a 'sama'?"

"I told you that I'm the head of a company the second time we met, right? And as a superior most of the employees call me using 'sama'"

Shizuo went to think back and he remembered that she did mention about being the head of a company.

"Ah, sorry. I forgot that you mentioned it before. I thought you were joking."

"Don't worry. That happens a lot."

A moment of silence fell between the two before Miyuki began to talk again.

"Shizuo, can I ask you something? Though, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Sure, go ahead and ask."

"Well, I was just wondering. Have you ever fell in love with someone?"

Shizuo coughed after hearing Miyuki's question. Luckily he didn't choke on the milkshake that he was drinking.

-What? She doesn't know that I like her, right?

"W-well, I have. Why did you ask?"

"Sorry for the sudden question. It just popped up in my mind all of a sudden."

Miyuki smiled and took a sip of her iced lemon tea. She leaned back on her chair as the smile on her face faded away.

"So, even you've fell in love before."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"I never fell in love before so I don't know what it feels like. I never had a boyfriend or liked anyone in that kind of way before."

-So, she doesn't know after all. That's a relief.

"Sometimes I wonder if I will ever find someone that I'll love."

-Why am I telling this to him?

"I even wonder if I can actually love someone."

Miyuki said it with a half joking tone. Shizuo fixed his sunglasses and said:

"Idiot."

"Eh?"

"People say that those who call others idiots are the real idiots. I don't care if I'm an idiot, so I'll call you one. Idiot. You're talking as if you're a heartless person that doesn't have any feelings. Of course you can love someone. You care about Kuroba and your friends, don't you?"

"I do care about Kazu and all my other friends but that's-"

Before Miyuki could finish her sentence, she was cut off by Shizuo.

"No buts. If you can care about someone, surely you can love someone."

Miyuki just stared at Shizuo with out saying anything. After staring at him for a while, a smile appeared on her face and she began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that, you're the second person that actually called me an idiot personally besides Kazu."

She said as she was still chuckling.

"But you're right. If I can care about others then I'll surely be able to love someone, even if I don't right now."

After finishing their drinks, Miyuki and Shizuo got out of the restaurant.

"Want me to walk you home?"

"Sorry Shizuo, but there's somewhere I want to check out first before going home."

"Is it work again?"

"No, it's not. But I really need to check it out so see ya."

"See you later. Be careful and don't forget to take it easy."

"I will."

Miyuki waved at Shizuo as she walked away. She went to the roof of a building that was near her office.

"It was him after all."

Izaya was still lying unconscious on the floor. Miyuki lowered her body and poked Izaya's face a couple of times.

"I…za…ya…-kun are you still alive? I…za…ya...-kun."

After a few times she poked his face, Izaya finally woke up. He sat up and held his forehead that was hit by a cell phone.

"Aww my head hurts. I think something hit me."

Still trying to regain his full consciousness, Izaya tried to remember what happened before he fainted. He still hasn't realized that Miyuki was right beside him. He looked around him and he finally realized that Miyuki was there.

"Miyu-chan! Why are you here?"

"I'm the one that should be asking you that. Were you spying on me?"

"Spying? I wasn't spying on anything. I was simply observing things."

He said in an arrogant and self confident manner.

"I don't really mind if you want to 'observe' things, just try not to get caught by me next time. I really don't want you to show up and make a mess around here."

And just like that Miyuki left and went home. Izaya that was still sitting on the ground stood up and picked up his binocular that was on the floor. He realized that there was a smashed cell phone not far from where his binocular was. He picked a piece of the smashed cell phone from the floor.

-She hit me with this from that distance?

-She sure is one scary girl.

It was noon and Shizuo was taking a break at Ikebukuro Central Park when Celty passed by and joined him on his break. They both sat in front of the artificial waterfall that was at the park.

There were a lot of people in the park but no one dared to approach the man in a bartender suit and the one wearing a rider suit, some even tried to avoid from getting close to them.

There was a group of four men that seemed to be arguing under a tree near where Shizuo and Celty were sitting.

"How do you think we can find her without contacting her? Do you expect us to just meet her out of nowhere?"

A man in the group that wore glasses said.

"She'll find out that we're looking for her if we contacted her. Are you an idiot?"

Said a man wearing a red headband.

"Now now calm down you two. We could ask around to find her. She is a sociable person after all."

A man that wore a headphone around his neck said.

"Yeah, what Shin said is right and like what Kuma said, if we contact her she'll know that we're looking for her."

Said the man with red bleached hair.

Shizuo and Celty were close enough to be able to hear their conversation but they didn't bother to pay attention at what they were talking about since it was none of their business. Suddenly, the man with red bleach hair was standing in front of Shizuo and Celty. He just stared at them with a curious look and it seemed like he was thinking about something at the same time. Shizuo felt a little disturbed by this.

"What do you want?"

"Could you possibly be Heiwajima Shizuo?"

The man said as he tilted his head.

"What if I am?"

"So, it really is you! Just like the rumors said, you're a man that always wears a bartender suit where ever you go. I didn't really think that the rumors were true and thought that it was kind of ridiculous at first, but it's actually true!"

The man kept talking and that made Shizuo annoyed. Celty that was sitting beside him started to worry that the man in front of them will make Shizuo mad.

"Hey tell me. Is it true that you can lift a ven- humph."

The man's mouth was covered by a hand of his friend that wore a headphone around his neck.

"Sorry if my friend is bothering you. We'll be going now."

The man was pulled away by his friend to go back to the rest of their group.

"Seriously, stop goofing around. We have to hurry and find her, don't we?"

"I was just asking if he was Heiwajima Shizuo. Besides, I'm sure finding Miyu-chan won't be that hard."

"Yes, but if we don't find Miyuki soon we'll never find her."

Shizuo heard what they said and wondered if their talking about the same Miyuki that he knew or not. He stood up from where he was sitting. Celty typed something on her PDA and showed it to Shizuo.

[Where are you going?]

"I'm just going to check something."

Shizuo approached the two men before they got back to their group.

"It seems like you guys are looking for someone."

"Well, we're looking for a girl named Kanzaki Miyuki. You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

-Why are they looking for Miyuki? These guys might be up to something.

"Sorry, but I don't know a girl with that name."

"You're lying."

Said a bespectacled man from behind the two men that were in front of Shizuo. It was their friend from the group. The other two that were under the tree were now behind the two men that talked with Shizuo.

"What do you mean? I really don't know her."

"Liar. If you really didn't know her then why did you come to these two after hearing her name?"

Shizuo laughed out loud that a lot of the park-goes turned to look at him. Celty who heard him laughing came to him.

"I guess I never was a good liar. But why are you guys looking for her?"

The bespectacled man fixed his glasses and said in a serious manner.

"Whatever business we have with her doesn't concern you. Whatever we're going to do with her is none of your business."

-I knew these guy were trouble.

* * *

Next Chapter: Aniki


	25. Aniki

Dear Readers

I know it's a little late to ask this, but is this story going on for a bit too long or do you think it's just natural?

The ending of this chapter is kind of rushed and messed up because I've been busy lately.

Note: Aniki means Boss and is just used as a joke here XP

please review:D

* * *

"So, have you and Shizuo-kun settled things between the two of you?"

"I guess you could say that."

Miyuki and Kazuo were shopping at a convenience store together. They happened to be short on food supplies so they made an appointment to go shopping together.

Miyuki has become a regular customer at the convenience store that they went to. She often came to the store to buy food or just buy some snacks and the store employees knew her, however it was Kazuo's first time entering the store.

"Well, it's good to know that the two of you have settled the problem."

After they have got everything they needed they went to the cashier. The cashier scanned the things they wanted to buy through a scanner to know the price.

"This is the first time I've seen you go shopping with someone, Miyu-chan. Are you two lovers?"

"We're not lovers."

They both stated in synchronization without changing the expressions they had on their faces.

After paying for the things they brought, Miyuki and Kazuo went out of the store and just stood somewhere near the convenience store where there were trees and bushes.

"You really know a lot of people, don't you Miyu?"

"Well, I always shop there so it's just natural for me to be known by the employees that work there."

Kazuo took out a pack of bubble gum from the plastic bag he was carrying and placed it in his pocket.

"Miyu, what do you think about him?"

"Who? Are you talking about the cashier?"

"No, I was talking about Shizuo-kun. I want to know what you think about the man that is known as the strongest in Ikebukuro."

"The strongest in Ikebukuro? Have you been looking for information about Shizuo, Kazu?"

"Yeah, I read a lot about him on the net and it mentioned that he's the strongest in Ikebukuro. So, what do you think about him after being friends with him all this time? Aren't you scared of him? He did hit you with a vending machine."

"I'm not scared of him. He might seem scary to others because of his strength but that doesn't scare me. He's actually a nice guy once you get to know him better and I'm sure you know that already. But to tell you the truth, I think he's kind of a coward."

Kazuo raised a brow. He was confused on what she just said. Coward, a word that has never been used to describe the fearsome man named Heiwajima Shizuo was now being used to describe him.

"A coward? Shizuo-kun? Are you serious? You think that the man that is feared by all, is kind of a coward? People are afraid of him not the other way around, you know?"

There was a tone of doubt in Kazuo's voice. He didn't really think that Miyuki was serious with what she said but he knew she couldn't be lying because she had no motive to lie.

"I mean it. Everyone might be scared of him because of his unusual strength, but he's the one that's actually scared. He's always afraid that he'll mess up or lose control. Wouldn't you call someone that's always afraid of something, a coward? or is it weak willed? At least, that's what I think."

Miyuki had a serious expression on her face. It was times like these that she looked mature and all grown up, aside from her usual personality that makes her seem like an immature little girl that just wants to play all the time.

"How do you know that he's afraid? Did he tell you that?"

"No, he didn't tell me anything about it, but I can tell just by looking at his eyes whenever he loses control."

"Well, you are sharp when it comes to knowing people's fear."

A moment of silence fell between the two until Kazuo broke the silence.

"I know it seems like I'm asking too much but I have one more question regarding Shizuo-kun."

"What is it?"

"Is Shizuo-kun someone that you trust and consider a close friend?"

Miyuki stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering Kazuo's question.

"Yes, I do trust him and consider him as a close friend, in fact I feel very comfortable when I'm with him."

"Comfortable?"

A small smile appeared on Miyuki's face and she looked up at the clear blue sky.

"Yes, comfortable. Whenever I'm with him I feel like there's nothing to worry about and I feel like I can tell him anything, even things that I never told to anyone else. But lately I feel that there's something weird with him."

"Weird? Are you talking about his guilt after hitting you with a vending machine?"

"No, it's not actually guilt. I feel like he's hiding something from me, but I'm not going to ask him what it is, because I'm sure he'll tell me if it has anything to do with me."

Kazuo chuckled and patted Miyuki's head.

"You can be pretty dense sometimes, you know?"

Miyuki didn't know what Kazuo meant. She was confused and just tilted her head.

"Huh?"

While Miyuki and Kazuo were chatting they saw what some might call an unusual sight. They both saw a group of four men that were being chased by a man in a bartender suit while a black rider was following behind him pass by. Seeing the unusual sight, Miyuki and Kazuo just stood there, staring at the chase that was going further.

"Um….Miyu."

"What is it Kazu?"

"If what I saw was right. Those guys were being chased by Shizuo-kun, and Celty-san was behind him, right?"

"Yes, they were."

The four men were running as fast as they could so they can run away from Shizuo.

"Tetsu! This is all your fault!"

The man with red bleached hair shouted.

"My fault? How is t my fault?"

The bespectacled man said.

"If you weren't so rude back there, we could have asked him where Miyu-chan is and he wouldn't be chasing us right now!"

"Well, I wouldn't have been so rude if he didn't lie about knowing Miyuki or not from the start!"

"Could you two just shut up! Just focus on running for now!"

The man wearing a red headband said.

"But this feels kind of nostalgic. I remember the last time we ran for our lives like this was when we made Aniki angry."

The man with red bleached hair said with a smile on his face as he ran for his life.

"Don't sound so happy!"

The others shouted at him.

The men ran into an alleyway and got into a dead end. They can no longer run from Shizuo and they know that fighting him will be useless. Celty stayed in a distance not far from Shizuo but she didn't interfere or try to stop Shizuo. She just simply stayed there on her motorbike and watched since she knew that she couldn't stop Shizuo even if she tried.

"Now you bastards can't run anymore."

Shizuo had those men cornered and was ready to beat them up. It was then that those men had a surprised look on their faces, but it wasn't because of Shizuo. Their eyes widen as they looked behind Shizuo. As he realized this, Shizuo held back his punch that he was going to deliver.

"Aniki! Why are you here? Don't come closer! It's dangerous!"

The man wearing a headphone around his neck shouted out to someone that was behind Shizuo.

-Aniki? So, their boss came here.

"Seriously, you guys. What did you guys do to make Shizuo mad?"

-That voice. Isn't that…

"This is all Tetsu's fault, Aniki."

The man wearing a red headband Spouted as he pointed his index finger at the bespectacled man.

The voice of the one that was just called 'Aniki' sounded familiar to Shizuo, too familiar.

"You know, I was just having a nice chat with Kazu, but then you guys passed by while being chased by Shizuo."

-There's no mistaking it. It must be her.

Shizuo turned around to see and make sure who was behind him. There he saw Miyuki standing not far away. Her hands were on her hips and she had an annoyed expression on her face.

"By the way, why are you guys still calling me Aniki? It's not like we're a yakuza group or anything and even if we were, you should be calling me Aneki not Aniki."

Shizuo was no longer mad but he was now confused. He suspected the group of men were going to do something bad to Miyuki and the mastermind behind it was the guy that they called Aniki. But now those men are calling Miyuki Aniki. He no longer knows what's going on, in fact everyone except Miyuki was feeling awkward and confused.

"Do you know these guys, Miyuki?"

Shizuo asked with a still confused face.

"Yeah, I know them. They're my friends and just to make it clear to you guys Shizuo is my friend too."

A moment of awkward silence went though for a couple of seconds, but the tone of Shizuo's ringing cell phone broke the silence.

"Hello."

"**Hey, Shizuo. Your break ended a few minutes ago and I'm waiting for you. Where are you now?**"

"Screw it! I lost track of time. Sorry Tom-san, I'll be there soon."

And just like that Shizuo left the scene, ignoring the questions in his head and went to work.

* * *

The title was meant to have a play of words with the meaning Boss and Big Brother.

But I don't think I gave Kazuo a Big Brother character in this chapter -_-'

once again, please review XD

Next Chapter: Love and Hate


	26. Love and Hate

This is the longest chapter since chapter 13 XD

Is my writing getting more messy or is it just me?

anyway, please enjoy the chapter (if you're reading it) XP

Note: Futon is a japanese mattres (in case you didn't know)

* * *

Not long after Shizuo left, Kazuo came while carrying a bunch of grocery bags. He handed some of the groceries to Miyuki.

"Hey, you left these behind when you went."

Miyuki received the groceries that Kazuo handed out to her.

"Ah, sorry about that, I kind of forgot about these. Thanks for bringing them here. I better go back now see ya."

Miyuki left, leaving the place without saying anything to the group of men that she said were her friends and acted as if they weren't even there. The group of men were sitting on the ground due to exhaustion from all the running and sighed in relief that they were still alive after making the almighty Heiwajima Shizuo mad. They did not realize that Miyuki had already left.

Kazuo was left clueless. He approached Celty that was still near the area to ask her what happened.

"Excuse me Celty-san, but what just happened? Wasn't Shizuo-kun here?"

Celty typed on her PDA and told Kazuo about all the misunderstanding that happened between Shizuo and the group of men.

"So that's what happened."

[Do you know these people, Kazuo-kun?]

Kazuo gazed at the men that were still on the ground and taking their breath. He sighed and faced Celty with his usual cool expression.

"Yeah, I know them. They might look kind of suspicious at first glance but they aren't bad guys."

[I see. I have some work to do so I'll take my leave now.]

Celty left on her black motorcycle that was actually a horse. There were no engine sounds coming out of the motorcycle when she left but there was the sound or a horse's nigh.

Kazuo doesn't know Celty's identity as the headless rider yet since he assumes that it's just a rumor and Celty is just an ordinary human even if she doesn't speak.

The men that were sitting on the ground are now back on their feet. They approached Kazuo that was thinking about the oddness of Celty's motorcycle.

"Hey Kuro, long time no see."

The man wearing a headphone around his neck said with a friendly tone.

"Do you know where Aniki went? She was just here a minute ago?"

The man with red bleached hair said.

"Aniki? You guys are still calling her that? It would make more sense if you call her Aneki since she's a girl, you know?"

"But Aniki sounds cooler for Miyu-chi and she often acts more like a guy than a girl anyway."

"Then you should be more consistent on what you want to call her. If you can call her by her name just do so. Anyway, she already left."

"What? She already left? But she didn't even say hi to us. Not to mention we've been looking all over for her."

The man with red bleached hair whined and put on a depressed look on his face.

"I'm guessing that she's annoyed with you guys, that's why she left just like that."

"But it's still a bit to harsh for her to just leave like that. It's not like we did anything wrong, right?"

The man wearing a headphone around his neck said.

"She was probably annoyed because you guys made Shizuo-kun mad."

"Well, if that's the case then it's Tetsu's fault all over again."

The man with red bleached hair said as he pointed to the bespectacled man. The man that was just called Tetsu doesn't seem to be in the mood to argue about the same problem again, so he just kept quiet.

"Why did you guys come here anyway? You mentioned something about looking for Miyu all over Ikebukuro, didn't you, Sho?"

"Well, there's going to be an event at Shibuya soon and we wanted to tell our beloved princess about it."

The man with red bleached hair that was referred as Sho by Kazuo said.

"You called her Aniki then you called her Miyu-chi, now you're calling her princess? You seriously need to be more consistent on what you're going to call Miyu by."

**.**

**.**

It was night time and Shizuo was just looking down at the streets from a highway. Celty happens to be passing though the highway and saw Shizuo, so she pulled over and stopped. Shizuo noticed Celty's presents and turned around to face her.

"Yo, Celty. Going home after work?"

[Yes. What are you doing here Shizuo?]

"I'm not really doing anything right now. I was just thinking about something."

[Is something wrong? You know that you can talk to me about anything, right? We're friends after all.]

After reading the words typed on Celty's PDA Shizuo stayed quiet for a moment before speaking.

"You know about today. I almost hurt her friends because of a misunderstanding. If she hadn't showed up back then, those guys would probably be in the hospital by now."

Shizuo said in a tone that evoked sympathy.

[But it turned out fine and the misunderstanding was solved so there's nothing to worry about.]

"But what if she didn't show up and I beat the living hell out of those guys back then? I bet Miyuki would hate me."

[I don't think she would hate you even if that happened. She didn't hate you after you threw a vending machine at her after all.]

Celty typed on her PDA hoping that Shizuo would cheer up and wouldn't worry anymore after reading it.

"But that was unintentional. I was really going to hurt her friends on purpose this time if she hadn't shown up."

Celty didn't know what to type next. It was rare for Shizuo to be concerned about whether or not someone hates him. A lot of people hated Shizuo, especially those who became his victims but he couldn't care less about them.

After a moment of thinking what to type Celty finally typed something.

[Shizuo, could it be that you love Miyu-chan?]

-First it was Tom-san and now it's Celty. Is it really that obvious that I love her?

Celty had already typed out the sentence when she realized that it was not the best idea to ask about that and immediately erased the sentence even though Shizuo has already read it.

[Forget what I said earlier.]

"Why do you think that I love Miyuki?"

Shizuo ignored what Celty just typed. Celty nervously typed on her PDA to answer Shizuo's question.

[It's just that Shinra once mentioned that you probably love Miyu-chan and it's not like you to worry about someone hating you or not.]

[But I do understand why you don't want Miyu-chan to hate you.]

Even though they don't know Miyuki very well but she has become a friend to Celty and Shizuo whose existent's were mostly unaccepted by normal people. Miyuki was nice and friendly to them and overall she treated them as if they were ordinary people, which they weren't while at the same time she didn't deny the fact that of their unusualness. To be hated by someone that has accepted them for who they are, it would be sad and Celty knew that.

"To be honest, I do love her."

[Does she know that?]

"No, she doesn't and I prefer it to be that way."

[Why is that? If you really love her then why don't you just tell her? I know it might be weird but it's just like me and Shinra.]

[He kept on telling me that he loves me from the start and even though I didn't accept his feelings at first, but I do now.]

Shizuo fixed his sunglasses after reading what Celty typed on her PDA.

"I just want to keep things the way they are. If I confess to her, will she accept it? I don't mind if she rejects it but what if we won't be able to be just friends like we are now?"

Celty wasn't sure on how to respond. In her case, she was the one that being confessed to and Shinra isn't someone with such complicated feelings.

"Being friends with her is more than enough. If she gets too involved with me, I'm afraid that something bad could happen to her. I'm aware that I there are a lot of people that don't like me in this city and there's that manipulative bastard, who knows what he'll do to Miyuki if he finds out about her."

Later that night when Shizuo was on his way home he saw that Miyuki was buying a drink from a vending machine. It looked like that there was something wrong with the vending machine and the drink won't come out.

Shizuo just watch Miyuki from afar and it looked like she was giving up on getting the drink from the vending machine, when suddenly she kick the side of the machine and the drink finally came out of the machine.

After Miyuki picked up the can from the vending machine she noticed that Shizuo was just standing not far from where she was and approached him.

"Ah, Shizuo! Great timing, I was just on my way to your place."

Miyuki gave a smile while Shizuo looked at the can that Miyuki held in her hand. It was a can of black coffee.

-It's already late and she going to drink coffee?

"You are on your way home, right Shizuo?"

"Y-yeah, why are you going to my place this late anyway?"

"Well, there's something I want to discuss with you. If you don't mind that is."

Miyuki followed Shizuo to his apartment and went inside. The place was pretty simple and plain. There was a sofa and coffee table in the living room, but other than that there wasn't much there.

"So, this is how your place looks like."

"I know it's not much, but having other stuff in here would be a hassle. I'll go and heat some water to make tea."

They both entered the kitchen then Shizuo heated some water in a kettle on the stove and left it to boil while Miyuki put down her can of black coffee on the kitchen table. Both Miyuki and Shizuo sat on the chairs that was in the kitchen as they waited for the water to boil.

"What is it that you want to discuss with me?"

"Well, actually about what happened today…I was pretty surprised when I saw you chase someone other than Izaya-kun."

He was surprised on the topic Miyuki brought up, but he was even more surprised that she mentioned he name of his archenemy.

"Usually you wouldn't chase others if they aren't Izaya-kun, right? Those idiots must've made you really mad that you had to chase them."

Shizuo was confused on what to say. He had some questions he wanted to ask her, but doesn't know what to ask first. He wondered what does she know about Izaya, what kind of relationship she had with the men that she said were her friends, and why do they call her Aniki.

"Are you still mad at them? What did they actually do to make you mad?"

Shizuo that was caught up in his thoughts came back to his senses.

"Everything is fine now. They didn't really do anything, it was just a misunderstanding."

Miyuki leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms.

"I see. Well, it's a relief to know that you don't hold a grudge on them."

"Who were those guys anyway and why do they call you Aniki?"

"Like I said back then, those idiots are my friends. The one with glasses is Kirisaki Tetsuya. The one that has red hair and talks a lot is Daisuke Shori. The one that wore a headphone around his neck is Fukuhara Shin. And the one that wore a headband is Toramizu Kurama. I became friends with them not long after I knew Kazu. They're a bunch of troublesome guys and often make people give a bad impression about them but their nice guys."

Shizuo was never good at remembering a lot names and he didn't really remember any of the names that Miyuki just mentioned. He just listened to what she said without remembering the names she had mentioned.

"I don't know why their still calling me Aniki now. They started calling me that ever since we became a group in middle school and they said that I was the leader or something, though they do call me by my name sometimes, especially Sho-kun, he often changes the names he calls me with."

Talking about her friends, Shizuo remembered that he almost hurt them and his uneasy feeling came back like when he was talking to Celty earlier.

"Miyuki, would you hate me if I fought your friends until they have to be hospitalized if you didn't show up today?"

The question just slipped out of his mouth unintentionally. Miyuki uncrossed her arms and placed them on the table.

"I wouldn't hate you, but I might be mad at you depending on the situation. You're not the only one to blame in that incident, after all they're the ones who made you mad in the first place. The trouble that those guys get into is their own responsibility and I'll only act if it's necessary."

A few minutes passed by in silence, the water hasn't boiled yet and Shizuo had completely forgot that he wanted to ask Miyuki about what she knows about Izaya.

Tired of waiting for the water to boil, Miyuki opened the can of coffee that she had placed on the table and drank it until there wasn't a drop left in the can.

"Actually there's something that I wanted to ask you, that's why I came here."

"What is it?"

"Have you ever killed anyone before?"

She said so bluntly as if it was a normal thing to ask someone.

"No, I haven't. Are you accusing me that I've killed someone before?"

"I'm not accusing you, it's just that the thought came to me. Is killing someone easy?"

Shizuo had no idea from where did she have such thoughts and simply asked:

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean killing someone is pretty easy. All you have to do is stab someone in the heart or if you don't want to get your hands dirty you can just give that someone poison. There are many ways to kill someone, but is it really that easy? Killing actually requires a lot of mental strength. People can easily have the feeling of wanting to kill, but to actually kill someone is a whole different thing. To actually kill someone with your own hands is hard. It's hard to kill someone calmly."

Hearing all this talk about killing doesn't seem right to Shizuo.

"Oi, oi, a girl shouldn't be talking about stuff like that even if it's only joking."

"I know that it's something a girl shouldn't be talking about, but it's your fault I that I started to about it."

"How is my fault?"

Shizuo raised a brow in confusion.

"Yes, it's your fault. You keep on telling people that you really hate Izaya-kun and that you want to kill him or wish he was dead. You've known and chased him for years yet he's still alive. Do you really have the resolve to kill him? Can you actually kill him? Do you really intend to kill him every time you chase him around town? I kept thinking about it and it bothered me."

Miyuki complained and questioned Shizuo about his habit on hunting down Izaya.

"But after thinking about whether or not you could actually kill Izaya-kun, I wondered if I can take someone's life. I never really hated anyone that I felt that I want to kill them, but if that were to happen I would probably kill without hesitation since it's something that I have decided."

Miyuki said with a serious voice.

"To bad for you I don't hate Izaya-kun like you do. I don't hate Izaya-kun but I can't say that I like him either, I guess I just don't like him since he's so annoying. If I hated him as much as you do, I'm sure he'd already be dead by now. Not that I mean to brag, but I'm sure if I tried to kill him it would be pretty easy since I'll kill him silently without making a sound."

Miyuki said in a confident manner, overconfident to be more precise. She talked about killing someone as if they were talking about shooting ducks.

The talk about killing Izaya reminded him that he wanted to ask what she knew about him, but before he could ask that, the kettle on the stove let out a whistling sound that was the sign that the water is has boiled.

Shizuo got up from his chair and went to make some tea. After making two cups of tea he didn't know if he should put sugar in Miyuki's tea or not because he doesn't know if she liked her tea plain or sweet.

"Oi, Miyuki, do want some sugar in your tea?"

There was no answer and there weren't any sounds of Miyuki considering Shizuo's question.

"So, you want sugar in your tea or not?"

There was still no answer. After a few seconds of no response Shizuo felt like he was being ignored.

"Are you even list-"

When Shizuo turned around to see what Miyuki was doing he saw that she was already fast asleep. Her head was cushioned on top of her arms and she slept soundly on the kitchen table. She looked just like a little kid from Shizuo's perspective.

-Seriously, she sleeping after she drank a can of black coffee.

-She looks pretty cute when she's sleeping like that.

Shizuo just gazed at Miyuki's sleeping figure until he realized that he can't just let her sleep on his kitchen table all night. He could take her back to her apartment but that would mean his going to have to wake her up. He didn't want to disturb her peaceful sleep.

So, Shizuo lifted Miyuki gently while trying not to wake her up and brought her to the room he uses to sleep in. He tucked her in a futon that was already laid out on the floor and turned off the lights. Before getting out of the room, Shizuo looked back to see Miyuki's sleeping face then he went out and closed the door.

Since the futon he uses to sleep on is being used by Miyuki, Shizuo decided to just sleep on the sofa that night.

* * *

Please review and tell me what you think

critics are also accepted ^_^

I'm not sure if the title actually fits the chapter or not :P

Next Chapter: A Strange Feeling


	27. A Strange Feeling

Writing this chapter was rather confusing for me -_-

If your confused on who is who there are some notes under the chapter.

Enjoy and please review XD

* * *

I just woke up and I looked around me. This isn't my room, where am I? Now I remember I fell asleep when Shizuo went to make tea. But if I'm still at Shizuo's house, where's Shizuo? It didn't seem that there were any rooms for guests to sleepover since this is a simple apartment room.

I stood up and went out of the room to look for Shizuo. I found him sleeping on the sofa. He looks so sweet when he's sleeping like that, as sweet as an angel. Unlike when he's mad, he looks like a devil. Why am I thinking about this anyway?

I looked up the time on my cell phone and it was five o'clock. Well, it's still early so I'll just let him sleep. What am I supposed to do now? Just leaving doesn't seem right. I was the one who fell asleep here to begin with.

I'm not sure what to do now and it's still pretty early. Being in Shizuo's apartment made me think "how many bartender suits does he have left?" he told me that his brother gave him a lot, but Shizuo often gets into fights so some must have been damaged.

Ignoring the fact that I'm only a guest I went back to his room and opened the cupboard that was in that room. He sure had a lot of bartender suits hanging in here but there are only a few clothes that aren't bartender suits and they look like they can only be worn at home. After seeing the contents of the cupboard I closed it and went into the kitchen and just sat on a chair.

Shizuo really loves his brother. I can tell by the way he talked to me about his brother. It kind of makes me envy him. He had a caring family and even a caring brother, if only he could control his power he would've lived happily without any problems. I wish I had a nice family like that, unfortunately that's impossible. I think it was kind of a good thing that the slashers fought with Shizuo, because of that Shizuo is able accept himself the way he is.

I've been sitting here for the last fifteen minutes, I should really do something. I know, I'll make breakfast as thanks for letting me stay for the night. I wonder what I should make perhaps I should buy some ingredients first. I went outside quietly without waking Shizuo up to go to a nearby convenience store and bought some ingredients to make curry.

When I got back to Shizuo's apartment he was still sleeping soundly on the sofa. I let myself in, quietly tip-toeing through the living room to the kitchen. When what was left to do was to wait for the curry to boil I just stirred the pot of curry.

"Why am I here, again?" I question myself. The reason why I came here was because I had something in my mind that bothered me, but to come all the way to someone's place just to talk about it and bother them late at night doesn't seem like me. In fact, talking about something that's bothering me to others isn't like me at all. Usually I would just keep my thoughts to myself. I never even talked to Kazu if I have anything bothering my mind. Then why was I so eager to come here?

"Oi, Miyuki, what are you doing?"

Shizuo's voice came from behind my back.

I was caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize that Shizuo has woken up. A little surprised to hear his voice from behind, I turned around. When I turned around, my face was so close to Shizuo's face that our noses almost touch each other. My heart began to beat faster for some reason.

"Shi-shi-shizuo! I didn't hear you wake up."

I said in a rather nervous voice since I was surprised to see his face so close to mine after spacing out.

Shizuo that was leaning down a bit straighten up and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I smelled something good and it woke me up."

"I see. I'm cooking curry, you know, a thanks for letting me sleep over."

I smiled with a bright smile as I usually do.

Shizuo sat down and as soon as the curry was ready I gave him a plate of curry with rice. I also helped myself for a plate of curry and the both of us ate together.

"This is delicious. You really are good at cooking."

"Thanks."

I cracked a smile after hearing his compliment.

"You sure look like you're in a good mood."

"Well…it's just that it feels nice to eat breakfast with someone rather than eating alone. I've been eating breakfast alone ever since I came to Ikebukuro, not that I always have someone to eat with back at my hometown. It just feels kind of nostalgic eating breakfast together like this."

**Noon at South Ikebukuro Park**

"What do you guys want from me?"

I said in a voice that sounded kind of irritated.

"Don't act so cold, Aniki. I know we kind of messed up but you don't have to be so mean."

"It's your attitude that made you mess up in socializing, Tetsu. I don't know how it happened but you shouldn't be rude to people that you've just met. You were rude to Shizuo, weren't you?"

"Well, he's the one who started it. If he didn't lie about not knowing you, I wouldn't have been so rude to him. You know how I hate people who lie."

Shizuo lied about knowing me or not? I don't see why he would lie about something like that. But Tetsu wouldn't lie to me about something like this either.

"Hmmm…did you guys say something about me that he could have possibly heard before you asked him?"

"We were arguing about how to find you without you knowing."

"Then it's obvious that he would lie about not knowing me."

"Obvious? Why is it obvious?"

"A group of guys are arguing on how to find a girl without her knowing. That girl happens to be a friend of his. Of course it would sound suspicious and he would think that you guys are going to do something bad to me."

These guys common sense is kind of low sometimes that they can't realize the most obvious things, though Tetsu is usually good in analyzing situations.

"If you put it that way, it does make sense somehow. But I'm definitely not going to apologize to him."

"It's fine as long as you understand. So, why did you guys come to Ikebukuro looking for me?"

I was now talking in a usual tone.

Kuma handed out a piece of paper to me that was pamphlet of a fair that will be held at Shibuya. It was written that the fair will start next week and will be held for three days.

"We wanted to go the fair with you and hang out like we used to."

Kuma said as he shrugged his shoulders for some reason.

"It has been a long time since the last time we went somewhere together. But what's with the 'find her without her knowing' has to do with this?"

"Well, we wanted to surprise you with our presents, Miyu-chi."

Sho-kun said with a happy go lucky tone in his voice.

"I think you surprised me enough by being chased by Shizuo. Anyway, this looks fun. Let's go there together next week when the fair starts."

"That reminds me you said that you and Heiwajima Shizuo were friends, right Aniki? Are the two of you close friends or just usual friends that know each other?"

Shin asked me.

"We're close friends. Did you guys know about Shizuo before coming to Ikebukuro?"

"We heard some rumors about him and a group called the Dollars. He's a very scary guy. Before we were chased out of the park he threw a sign pole at us."

"So, he did some public damage again,huh? He might have super strength but he just like you guys and he's actually nice when he's not mad."

I said with a smile to convince them that what I said was true.

"We'll there's no way anyone that's friends with Oujo-sama is evil so it must be true."

Sho-kun said with confidence. Seriously, can't he just call me with one name?

It's been a really long time since the last time I had a chat with these guys like this. Even though I've been acting stubborn to them since I saw them when they were being chased by Shizuo, I'm actually happy to see them.

The last time we were together was last year when I came to visit them at their campus. We often chat online, but meeting each other in person like this has its own impression that it feels kind of nostalgic to me and I'm sure they feel the same way.

The sky was clear and it looked like it will be like that all day however the wind did not blow. I had a feeling that there's going to be a huge rain later that day despite how nice the weather looks.

After I had a long chat at the park with my friends, they went back to Shibuya and I went back home. On my way home I looked at the sky where the clouds were covering the sky in gray all of a sudden, and it was so clear just a few minutes ago. I was now completely sure that it's going to rain so I hurried to go back to my apartment.

**In an apartment somewhere in Ikebukuro**

I watched the rain that was heavily pouring through the window in my room. My apartment isn't as big as Shinra's apartment but I guess it's half the size. I wonder if the guys are already on their way to Shibuya.

I laid down on my bed and looked at the ceiling. I feel that something was weird, that something was unusual. What could it be? Now that I think about it, I feel that I'm not acting like myself lately. Did I change? I averted my gaze from the ceiling to the window again.

Sometimes I have a weird feeling that I can't describe, especially when I'm with Shizuo. Not that I feel uncomfortable around him. Something just feels different from what I usually feel when I'm with other people including Kazu.

Why can I tell him things that I can't even tell Kazu that I think of as my big brother? I remembered that question in my head.

I wasn't sure about what I was thinking. So, I decided to call Kazu.

"**Hello?**"

"Hey Kazu, it's me."

"**Ah, Miyu, what's up?**"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something."

"**Sure, what is it?**"

"Have I changed?"

"**If you ask me, I don't see any changes from you. You're still the annoying little brat I know.**"

I see, so I haven't changed at all, but what is this funny feeling that I keep getting sometimes.

"**But it's not really something that I can be sure of.**"

"What do you mean?"

"**You never tell anyone when you have troubles. Whenever you have anything that's really bothering you, you'll hide it from others and act as if there is nothing wrong. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong, Miyu.**"

Somehow Kazu changed the course of the conversation.

"That's right, you can't help me if I don't tell you what's wrong, but right now I'm not even sure if there's anything wrong or not. Perhaps it's just me and there's nothing to worry after all. Come to think of it, it wasn't such a big deal to begin with anyway."

"**Are you sure that you're alright?**"

Am I alright? I'm just fine, there's nothing wrong. It's not like it really matters anyway. Why did I even make a fuss about this to begin with and bothered calling Kazu?

"Everything's fine, sorry for bothering you Onii-san."

I hung up the phone before he could respond. When was the last time I called him that I wonder? Well, it doesn't matter, I kind of feel better after talking to him.

Whatever changed it doesn't matter. I'm still me after all. I do what I want when I want to and that hasn't change. That strange feeling that I feel sometimes, I'm sure I'll figure it out sooner or later whatever it is. Besides, I have no idea what I'm thinking about anymore.

I got up from my bed and went to the balcony. The rain was still poring heavily. I suddenly wonder what Shizuo is doing now for some reason.

*ding dong*

The door bell rang. Who would visit me at a time like this? When I opened the door there stood two men soaking wet.

* * *

Character note:

Wear glasses : Kirisaki Tetsuya Nickname: Tetsu

Kirisaki means Ripper and Tetsuya means Arrow of philosophy

Red bleached hair : Daisuke Shori Nickname: Sho

Shori means Triumph

Wears a headphone : Fukuhara Shin Called: Shin

Fukuhara means Blessed Plain and Shin means True

Wears a red headband: Toramizu Kurama Nickname: Kuma (Bear)

Toramizu means Tiger water

Next Chapter: Occupation


	28. Occupation

Sorry for those who have been anticipating for me to update the story (if you're still reading, it has been 2 years)

I've reread the story before I wrote this and fixed some of the typos I found (there were so many -_-)

It's been a while since I wrote anything so the story might get kind of messy XP

* * *

When Miyuki opened the door she was surprised to see there were two men soaking wet in front of her door. The both of them were so wet that water was still dripping from their clothes.

"Matsu-san, Akira, what are you two doing here?"

The two men that were in front of her was Hatori Matsu, her guardian that took care of her ever since her parents died and Kirishima Akira, her formal loyal servant.

"Miyu-chan, that's no way to treat your guests, especially if those guests are your elders that's known you for a long time."

One of the men said with a polite lecturing voice.

"Ah, so you're finally admitting that your old, Matsu-san."

Miyuki said in a teasing manner.

"That's not-, whatever just let us in already. We're wet and it's freezing out here."

Miyuki let the two men inside to dry off and gave them some clothes to change into while they hung their soaking wet clothes outside on the balcony. After the two men had dried off and changed their clothes, they went into the living room where Miyuki was waiting for them on the sofa.

There were two sets of sofas in the living room that faced each other with a glass coffee table in the middle. Miyuki had prepared two cups of hot tea for the two men and a glass of iced tea for herself on the coffee table, so they sat on the sofa that was across where Miyuki was sitting.

"Thanks for lending us these dry clothes."

Matsu said as he tugged the collar of his shirt.

"Well, it would have been troublesome if the two of you walked around here soaking wet like that and you could've caught a cold."

"But, why do have these clothes? These are men's clothes and their too big to be yours."

"I just had them in case something like this ever happened and it actually turned out to be useful."

"I see you're as prepared as always, Miyuki-sama."

Akira said as he put on a light smile to Miyuki. Miyuki leaned back on the sofa and stared at the two men in front of her.

"So, I'll ask again. What are you two doing here?"

She said in a tone that sounded like she was annoyed.

"We just wanted to see how you were doing. You've only been living in Ikebukuro for a few weeks all by yourself and we were worried about you, Miyu-chan."

Matsu responded with a rather concerned voice.

"I'm fine and there's nothing you guys need to worry about."

"Really? Then why did I hear from Kojiro-san that your arm was broken recently?"

Miyuki was startled hearing that they knew about her broken arm.

"Umm….well….that, was just a small accident. I'm alright now and my arm has already healed so there's really nothing to worry about."

She said in a rather nervous voice. She didn't tell them about the accident because she didn't want them to worry about her.

- I hope they don't know how I injured my arm.

Aside from Shizuo, Tom, Shinra, Celty, and Kazuo nobody else knows what exactly happened on the day of the accident. She just told the people at the office that she had a road accident and they all assumed that she got hit by a car or something like that.

"Why didn't you tell me that you got into an accident? I know that as far as our relationship goes that I'm just a guardian that checks up on you every now and then, but I really do care if something were to happen to you."

Hearing how concerned Matsu was, Miyuki let out a sigh and replied:

"This is why I didn't tell you. Every time you worry you make a big deal out of it, even though it wasn't anything too serious to begin with. I told you that I can take care of myself and you of all people know that already."

The room fell into silence with tension in the air.

Matsu knew very well what Miyuki meant by saying those things. The word guardian was merely a title for him on paper due to legal reasons and because he was friends with Miyuki's father. Even though he was her guardian he was just as busy as her parents were and never really had time to take care of her. Miyuki practically raised herself with the assistance of Akira by her side.

After a few minutes have passed Akira who hasn't said much broke the silence.

"Now, stop being so tense you two."

Akira said as he tried to lighten the mood.

"So, Miyuki-sama it's been about three weeks that you've been in Ikebukuro. Did you make any new friends?"

"Yes, I did."

She answered short and quickly. The room was still full of tension and it turned silent again for a few more minutes. Not long after that Miyuki leaned forward and looked down as she covered her eyes with her right hand.

"Sorry about that Matsu-san."

She said in a low voice.

"It's just that, I've been having a lot on my mind lately."

"No, it's alright. You don't have to apologize like that. I heard that a lot happened at work before the accident. You are still young after all, so it's natural to be stressed out. I should have realized it sooner before pressuring you."

Miyuki look up at Matsu and leaned back on the sofa.

Well, that's not what I meant by 'a lot on my mind'

Oh, what the hell. I'll just let him think like that.

"Kojiro-san told me that you were doing pretty great at your job. To be honest I didn't think that you were able to do it alone."

"Thanks a lot for all your confidence in me, Matsu-san."

Miyuki said sarcastically with an annoyed look on her face.

"Now, don't be mad, Miyu-chan. I just thought that, you taking the President's chair right after you graduated high school was a bit too early. Not to mention that you had to move here so suddenly."

"As you can see, everything is fine"

Miyuki picked up her glass of iced tea that was on the coffee table and began to drink it.

"But, is it really fine for you to take over the company? Isn't there other things you want to do than work at your parents company? You know you can just quit if you want to."

She put down her glass back on the table before answering Matsu's questions.

"It's fine. I don't have anything that I'd rather do at the moment anyway."

The rain was still pouring heavily outside and there were also sounds of lightning. Miyuki looked at Akira that was just sitting beside Matsu and slowly drinking his cup of hot tea.

"Akira, you haven't said much since you got here. Isn't there something you wanted to tell me too?"

"Ah, well….I just came with Hatori-san here because he said he was going to meet with you, Miyuki-sama."

"So, you really don't know what to do now, since you already found out that everything is going fine."

"I guess you could say that."

Akira said as he chuckled a bit.

"By the way, do you guys have a place to stay for the night before going back?"

The two men just looked down and kept silent as the girl asked them the question.

"I see, so the two of you just came here out of impulse without thinking things through."

Embarrassed by the fact that what she said was true the two men still kept silent.

"Well, it doesn't seem like the rain will be stopping any time soon and your clothes are still wet so, I guess the two of you can stay here for the night."

The two men just nodded in response. They both spent the night at the girl's apartment by sleeping on her sofas in the living room because there were no extra bedrooms for guests in her apartment.

When the morning came, the rain had already stopped. Today was a Saturday so all of them had a day off of work but Miyuki still woke up early. She went to the balcony to take Matsu and Akira's clothes that were already dry and folded them. She looked up at the rising sun with a smile on her face.

I hope that the weather will stay like this.

As she was still on the balcony she looked down at the streets below and saw a familiar figure. It was a man in a bartender suit that was casually passing by.

"SHIZUO!"

The girl shouted down to the man in a bartender suit, hoping that he could hear her. The man in the bartender suit stopped walking and looked up at the apartment building where he heard someone calling out to him.

"SHIZUO! OVER HERE!"

The girl shouted from the 10th floor of the building as she waved her hand. The man in the bartender suit spotted the girl and waved back.

"SHIZUO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Ah, it's a hassle to shout so early in the morning.

He though so he didn't answer the girl's question and walked off somewhere.

Eh, did I annoy him somehow?

"Oi, Miyu-chan. Stop shouting so loudly in the morning."

Matsu said as he yawned and scratched his head.

"Sorry to wake you, Matsu-san."

Matsu got up from the sofa he was sleeping on and headed towards the balcony where Miyuki was standing.

"So, who were you yelling at?"

"It was just a friend that was passing by."

*ding dong*

"Hah? Who's visiting you so early in the morning?"

"Who knows? I'll go answer the door. Matsu-san, you should wake Akira up and change back to your dry clothes."

When Miyuki opened the door she was surprised to see Shizuo standing there. Suddenly Shizuo flicked his finger on Miyuki's forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

She complained as she held her sore forehead.

"Don't go around yelling so early in the morning."

"But it's rare for me to see you around this neighborhood."

Miyuki said while she was still holding her sore forehead with her left hand.

"I'm meeting Tom-san around here later so now I was just taking a stroll."

"Working on a Saturday huh? You guys sure are busy."

"Miyu-chan, who is it? Why are you taking so long to answer the door?"

Matsu's voice yelled to the front door from the living room.

- Who's voice is that? It sounded like a man.

"Oh, it's just the friend I mentioned earlier."

"Well, don't just stand there, invite your friend in. Akira's making breakfast now. Your friend can join us."

Shizuo had no idea what was going on. There seems to be two men in Miyuki's apartment, but were they doing here to begin with? It couldn't possibly be work related. What are they doing here so early in the morning? Do they actually live here? Many questions filled Shizuo's head that had no answers to them.

"So, would you like to join us?"

"Nah, I'll pass. I already had breakfast this morning and it isn't long before I meet up with Tom-san, so I'll be going now."

He lied. He just didn't want to be there any longer because he started to feel irritated for some reason.

"Then take care. Try not to get angry and beat up your targets before they pay."

Miyuki said with a smile on her face as Shizuo started to walk away.

"Yeah, I'll try."

Back in the kitchen, Akira has made rice omlette for the three of them. When Miyuki came back inside they started to eat breakfast.

"So, Miyu-chan. What happened to your friend? I thought that she was going to join us for breakfast."

"He said that he already ate and that he had to go to work."

"He? So, your friend is a man?"

Matsu said in a troubled voice.

"So, what does this man do for a living? You just said he had to go to work, right?"

Wah, Matsu-san isn't going to take it easy if he knows about Shizuo.

I don't want to lie to him, but I guess I can describe Shizuo's job a bit more vaguely.

"Well, you could say that he handles his company's money."

Miyuki answered calmly, hoping that it didn't sound too suspicious.

"So, he's an accountant. Well, it's nice to hear that you're making friends with working men now, rather than delinquents like you used to."

Matsu said in relief with a happy expression on his face. Even though Miyuki knew that what he said was wrong she didn't correct him and thought things a better off this way.

After they finished breakfast Matsu and Akira went back home.

**Noon at Lotteria**

Tom and Shizuo were having lunch when Shizuo's phone suddenly rang.

*ring ring*

"Hello?"

"**Hey, Shizuo. Where are you right now?**"

"Miyuki? Well, I'm having lunch with Tom-san now at Lotteria."

"**Ah, that's pretty close. I'll be there in a few minutes.**"

"Wait! Why are you-"

Beeeeeeeeeeeep. She hung up the phone without listening to want Shizuo was about to say.

"That girl, why does she always hang up so suddenly."

Shizuo muttered to himself while staring at his cell phone.

"Um, Shizuo that was Miyu-chan, right? What did she want?"

"Hm…oh…she just said something about comin-"

Shizuo stopped talking when he saw the girl he was just talking to on the phone walking in the restaurant.

"Shi…zu..o~"

She said cheerfully as she waved at his way. Tom looked to where the voice was coming from.

"Miyu-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I've been looking for Shizuo. You wouldn't mind if I borrowed him for a bit, would you?"

"Not, really but we have to go back to work in an hour."

- Oi, what do these two think their talking about without my consent.

"Alright, I'll make sure he get's back to work by then."

Miyuki looked at Shizuo and said:

"Would you mind coming with me? There's something I want to talk about."

* * *

Character Note: For those of you who don't remember Matsu, Akira, and Kojiro has slightly been mentioned in the past chapters

Matsu: Chapter 5 Delivery

Akira: Chapter 7 The Girls Past

Kojiro: Chapter 23 I Want To Be Strong

Next Chapter: Choice


	29. Choice

I didn't really think this chapter through so it's kind of random and messy -_-'

* * *

**5 Hours Ago, On The Streets Of Ikebukuro**

Shizuo was walking around the streets after he got out of Miyuki's apartment building. As he walked around with no actual destination, Shizuo couldn't help but wonder who were the men in Miyuki's apartment.

- Were those men her roommates or neighbors? Perhaps they always eat breakfast together.

- No, that can't be it. If she had roommates or neighbors that she got along with so well, she would have told me a long time ago.

Shizuo stopped walking and just stood still in the middle of the streets.

- Huh? Wait, she wouldn't have told me even if it was true because she has no reason to tell me.

- It's not like I'm her boyfriend or anything. I'm just her friend, there's no need for me to know her living arrangements.

The more Shizuo thought about the possibilities and explanations on why there could be two men in her apartment the lesser his theories made sense, no matter how much he thought about it, there's no way he'll know what was really going on unless he asks Miyuki himself.

- Maybe I'll just ask her the next time I see her. But, when is that exactly?

- Usually we just happen to bump into each other on the streets or she suddenly shows up out of nowhere.

Given the nature of their casual relationship Shizuo and Miyuki don't see each other every single day to meet up or have appointments. They just hang out and chat if they happen to meet each other and actually have time to spare.

- Now that I think about it, I could just call her cell phone and ask her now.

- But it's still too early to ask her now. She's probably still eating breakfast with those guys.

Shizuo took a deep breath and tried to calm down. After thinking things trough one more time he thought it would be better for him to stop thinking about it. Thinking about it even more would have been useless if he didn't ask Miyuki what happened and there was really no need for him to know. But for some reason it really irritated him.

**Back To The Present**

A girl and a man in a bartender suit were sitting on a bench at Ikebukuro Central Park.

"So, about this morning, I'm not quite sure how to say this."

The girl looked down and it seemed like she was thinking on what to say next.

- This morning? She's been looking for me just to talk about what happened this morning?

- I guess it's been bothering me, but it's not like she has to explain the situation.

"Well, I guess I just wanted to say thanks."

She smiled as she looked at the man in a bartender suit who was sitting next to her.

"Thanks?"

"Well, you could've stayed longer but you left anyway even though you had nothing to do."

"You knew?"

"Yeah, it was pretty obvious. Though I'm not sure why you lied but you did look like you were in a bad mood."

"But why are you thanking me because of that?"

"Because things would've been pretty awkward if Matsu-san met you back then. Not that I don't want him to meet you but, with the way things are and the incident that happened recently it would be best if he doesn't know about you yet. Akira on the other hand might be fine but he doesn't really talk much."

The girl - Miyuki kept rambling on about what could've happened if Matsu knew what really happened to her arm and how he would react if he met Shizuo. Then she began to explain who Matsu and Akira were and what happened the other day until they ended up staying the night at her apartment.

After hearing what actually happened, Shizuo felt relived. He didn't know why but all the irritation he felt before disappeared. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put a cigarette in his mouth and lighted it before continuing the conversation.

"You know, you didn't really have to tell me all this today."

"I know, but a lot has been happening lately and I felt like talking about it with you."

Miyuki said with a wide smile to Shizuo. Hearing her say that made Shizuo felt really happy to know that she wanted to talk to him out of all the people she knew, even if that wasn't really the case.

"Besides, I'll be pretty busy with work starting on Monday and I have plans next weekend so I might not be able to see you again for a while."

Shizuo puffed his smoke and fixed his sunglasses after hearing what Miyuki said.

"I've been wondering about this for a while, but what is it that you actually do? I know you said you were the president and you even brought me to the building you work at but you never mentioned what kind of company it is."

"Well, I'm the president of an advertising agency."

"Advertising?"

"Yeah, we make advertisements for our clients. But since I just started taking up the president position and I'm young, I was kind of trial and they only gave me light tasks like signing papers that need the president's approval and contracts. Now their starting to accept my capability and giving me more work and I also have to go to meetings now."

She leaned back on the bench as the smile that on her face slowly faded away and the expression on her face became cold.

"Shizuo, do you like your job?"

"Hmmm….well, I guess I can't complain since I there aren't that many jobs that would accept me and I can't be picky but I'm fine with being a debt collector. What, do you hate your job?"

Miyuki let out a sigh and looked up at the sky still with a cold look on her face.

"I can't say that I hate it but I don't really like it either."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It kind of feels unfair that I'm the president and it's not like I actually need the job. I only got the job because of my parents. To be honest I didn't want to take the job in the first place, but Kojiro insisted that I do and after considering it, I actually took the job since I don't really have any plans on what to do."

Shizuo wasn't quite sure on how to respond. Miyuki leaned forward and sat up straight as she looked at Shizuo that was smoking. A smile slowly grew back on her face and she started to chuckle. Seeing the girl suddenly cheerful again after looking serious made Shizuo confused.

"What's so funny?"

"It's nothing. I guess in the end I'm glad that I chose to take the job. After all I got to meet you and Celty-chan because I had to move here."

Miyuki's phone rang, indicating that she received a text message. As she read the text, an irritated look started to show on her face. She stood up while still holding her phone and looked at Shizuo.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to make a call now."

She smiled and walked away from the bench. Shizuo just watched Miyuki as she made her call from the bench. It seems like she was arguing with the person on the other side of the call.

- I wonder who she's calling. It might be work related. She looks really pissed.

After finishing her call, Miyuki went back to the bench and let out a sigh.

"Problems at work?"

"Kind of, I'm gonna have to start my busy week earlier than expected. Speaking of work, it's almost time for you to get back to work."

"Well, then I'll be leaving."

"Good luck on collecting the money."

Shizuo got up and went back to work while Miyuki stayed at the park. After a few minutes passed she also left the park and went for a stroll around the city.

I wonder why Shizuo was in a bad mood this morning when he left. I guess whatever it was he's dealt with it since he looked kind of happy when he left the park.

Later that night when Shizuo finished work and was walking through the streets he got a text message.

*tring*

- Ah, it's from Miyuki.

[Hey Shizuo, sorry for dragging you to the park earlier today.]

*tring*

- There's another one.

[Not to mention that I bothered you by talking so much about my problems.]

*tring*

- How many texts is she going to send?

[I guess I should be thanking you for listening to me, so thanks :D]

Shizuo replied with "Don't send so many short messages. If you want to say something just send it all in one text!" before Miyuki sent any more texts. After a while it seemed like she wasn't going to reply but then his phone rang again.

*tring*

- What now?!

[Ok, I'll stop sending short texts and make them a long one. Come to think of it, this is the first time we've texted each other. We should do this more often when we can't meet. Do you often text with other people? You know, like Tom-san or Celty-chan. Nee Shizuo, do you even use your phone for calling people? It seems like you only use it to receive them and check the Dollars site sometimes, right? Are you even finished with work now? I wouldn't want to bother you if you're still working. Speaking of work, how did it go today? Was there anybody that annoyed you? It seems like Izaya hasn't been in Ikebukuro lately. Isn't that great? Or is it bad because you can't kill him if he doesn't show up here? Either way I think I should be going to sleep now because I have to go to work tomorrow even though it's Sunday T^T So, I'm probably asleep by the time you reply this text. It's better to send one long text this way than sending a couple of short texts, right?]

Shizuo just stared at the long text message that he just received.

She actually sent a long text. Is she mad or something? It's like she trying to prove a point.

In the end Shizuo just replied with "It's fine if you just send short texts."

* * *

Please review or tell me if the story doesn't make sense anymore :P

Next Chapter: Absence


	30. Absence

I'm not even sure why I'm still updating this story -_-

I feel like I made the characters OOC in this chapter, maybe it's just me XP

* * *

Appearance is one of the most basic things that people use to judge others. Depending on how someone looks people may have a rough idea on what that person's personality is like or what their social status is. Unfortunately you can't really judge people only by their appearance. Someone that seems scary might actually be nice while someone that seems pretty nice actually a bad guy that's just acting nice.

There are many kinds of people in this world and they all have something different that separates them from one another, which is why I think humans are interesting and I'd like to be friends with as many of them as possible. Unlike Izaya-kun that only likes to observe and control things from afar, I prefer to be involved with the people I'm interested in.

When I first arrived at Ikebukuro a few weeks ago I saw a man in a bartender suit sitting on a bench at the park alone. He looked like he was bored and waiting for time to pass so I approached him asking for directions, even though I actually know how to get there. I didn't really expect him to escort me when I asked him to, but he actually took me to where I need to go. Since then, I've been really interested to know more about that man named Heiwajima Shizuo.

After finding out more about Shizuo from the internet I still wanted to know more about this man who is known as Ikebukuro's Automatic Fighting Doll. He didn't look so scary when I met him, just how true were these rumors I wanted to know, so I started to follow him around. Seeing how he was when he snapped, he was like a completely different person, yet my interest in him still grew.

I never really knew why he always wears a bartender suit despite not being a bartender back then and it didn't really matter since I don't care what people wear but when I found out what the reason was I thought that Shizuo can actually be kind of cute.

It's been four days since the last time I saw him and I haven't contacted him either. I've been really busy with work that I can't go out and play. It's not like I can't call or text him, there's just nothing to really talk about. Well I guess keeping some distance from him now isn't such a bad idea after all of the confusing stuff that's been happening lately.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if Shizuo finds me annoying. I show up and follow him around whenever I feel like it. I call him and hang up on him without any explanation. Sometimes I drag him around for no reason. I even dropped by at his apartment late at night once just to talk to him even though I could have just done it some other time and I also fell asleep there.

Perhaps I'm thinking about this too much, if he thinks that I'm annoying he would have said so by now. It's not like I really care of what others think of me, so why should I feel concerned on what Shizuo thinks of me? Huh, why am I even thinking about this anyway?

I should focus on work since there's still a lot that needs to be done and I have to make sure that I'm free this weekend so that I can go to Shibuya and hang out with the guys like I promised. I'm sure going though more than a week without meeting Shizuo would be fine. It's not like we'll miss each other or anything.

"Kanzaki-sama, the meeting will start soon. You should be getting ready and go to the conference room."

I averted my gaze that was staring a pile of papers to the door that's across the desk and saw Kojiro that just entered the room.

"Alright, alright, I'll be there in a minute."

Ah, that's right all of these meetings is the reason why my schedule is full and why I had to start wearing suits. Usually I'd just wear my casual clothes, even for work but since I have to go to meetings now I started to wear an office suit, tie my hair, and wear high heeled shoes. It's such a hassle to wear all this just to look a little older and professional.

**Night, outside the office building**

I ended up working until this late again maybe I should take it easy and pace myself rather than going though all the files at one go. It's not like there's any need to rush but having some unfinished work just doesn't sit well with me.

"Yo, it's about time you got out."

A man wearing all black said as he approached me after I walked out of the building.

"You sure took your time in there I started to think that you weren't here and I must say that you look completely different than your usual self in that outfit."

"Izaya-kun, what are you doing here?"

I said flatly with an expressionless face.

"I wanted to talk to you so I waited here."

He said with a smile on his face. Somehow seeing Izaya-kun's face now makes me feel irritated. It might be because he showed up so suddenly and I feel tired.

"I don't really mind but if it's going to be long I'd prefer to do this somewhere else."

"Sure, there's a café close by right? Let's talk there."

As we were on the way to the café Izaya-kun kept staring at me with a smirk on his face along the way.

"What is it? You keep staring at me like that, it's creepy."

"Well, I just didn't think that you'd actually agree to talk to me. I was pretty sure you'd say something like 'I don't want to talk to you.' Or 'Get lost I'm going home.' After all you hate me, right?"

"Huh? I never said I hated you. I don't have such strong feelings towards you that I'd hate you like Shizuo does. To me you're more like an annoying person that I don't really like but I don't really dislike you either."

"You're so cruel Miyu-chan, is my existence that insignificant to you that you don't even like or dislike me?"

He said sarcastically. I just ignored him and kept walking until we got to the café. Inside the café was pretty quiet and there weren't that many people there so we had enough privacy to talk about anything without having to worry if someone will hear us. After ordering some drinks I started the conversation.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Hmmm….well I was wondering how you're handling your work since it must be tough for you to be the president of an advertisement agency at such a young age, right."

"Age is irrelevant on whether I can do the job or not and for your information I'm doing just fine."

"So, do you like your job?"

"Not really, it's boring and having to dress up to look more professional at meetings is a hassle. Not to mention all the paper work that has to be done. Having a desk job really doesn't suit me."

"Then why did you take the job in the first place if you don't like it so much? I know that you didn't have to take it if you didn't want to. Could it be that you felt obligated to take over your parents company since they died?"

Izaya said as a huge grin appeared on his face.

"No, that's not it."

I said flatly in respond.

"Huh?"

He blinked his eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

"Me taking the job as the president has noting to do with my parents whatsoever or any complicated reasoning that you might think it is. If anything I just can't see how they put up with that boring job for so long."

"Then why did you take it?"

"To put it simply it's for life experience."

"That's it? The only reason you took the job was to gain life experience?"

"Yep, that's it."

"Hoo….you really are something. To think you'd go through all this trouble for such a simple reason. So, what do you intend to do now? Are you going to stay as the president and really take over the company?"

"Of course not, why would I stay as the president if I don't even like the job. I'll be resigning once I'm tired of it."

A waiter came to our table and gave us the drinks we ordered. We took a break from the conversation until Izaya broke the silence.

"Nee, Miyu-chan you really don't have any problems having a casual chat with me like this, do you?"

"I should say the same about you. Even though I threw a cell phone at you the last time we met you seem just fine talking to me now."

"But still, you're good friends with Shizu-chan, right? Wouldn't it be awkward if he saw us together like this?"

"Not really, if he saw us together it's more likely that he'd just start throwing things at you and try to kill you without paying any attention to me."

"Hahaha…yeah, you're probably right. That sound more like something that Shizu-chan would actually do."

Somehow, hearing him talk about Shizuo made me feel annoyed.

"Anyway, if that's all you wanted to talk about I'll be leaving."

"Well, there's just one more thing I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"Do you know what Shizu-chan has been up to lately?"

"I wouldn't know about that since I haven't been in contact with him for a while. Besides what does it have to do with me?"

"Nothing really I just wanted to know if you keep tabs on him even when you aren't seeing each other."

"Well, unlike you I'm not a stalker that spies on someone I'm interested in and I don't really have any free time to be keeping an eye on Shizuo right now."

"Interested in? This is the first time I've heard of it. What's so interesting about that brute simpleton anyway?"

"I'm not telling you. Since you don't consider him as a human you're fine without knowing, right?"

"Fine, have it your way, I don't really care anyway."

He said like a sulking child. It's kind of fun seeing him that way.

"So, that's all, right? There's nothing else you came to talk about?"

"Nah, I'm done."

"Then I'll be going home now."

I left the café and made Izaya pay the bill since he was the one that wanted to talk.

**3 days later**

Shizuo and Celty were sitting on a bench at the park in the afternoon taking a break from work. The both of them sat there quietly until Shizuo muttered something to himself.

"One week."

Celty couldn't hear what he said clearly so she took out her PDA and typed on it in order to communicate with Shizuo.

[Did you just say something?]

"It's nothing. It's just been a week since the last time I heard any news from Miyuki."

[She's busy with work so it can't be helped.]

"I know that, but I'm just used to her showing up suddenly out of nowhere by now that when nothing happens it feels like something is missing."

[Well, she's going to have more free time next week so you might meet her then.]

"How do you know that?"

[She told me the last time we were chatting online. Didn't she text you or anything to keep in touch?]

"No, she didn't."

- Maybe she's mad about last time because I didn't reply to all her questions.

[You can just call or text her if you want to.]

"If she's really busy I wouldn't want to bother her and it's not like there's anything important to talk about anyway."

[It's Saturday, she doesn't have any work today.]

"Then I guess it wouldn't hurt to call and ask how she's doing."

Shizuo took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Miyuki's number.

"**Shizuo? Is that you?**"

"Yeah, it's me. I was just wondering how you were doing."

"**Heee…it's rare for you to call me. Anyway I'm doing just fine.**"

- Should I ask her if she's mad or not? She might actually be mad if I ask her that.

"**Hey Shizuo are you mad at me?**"

"No, why would I be mad at you."

"**Well, I thought you were mad because I didn't text you back last time. I wanted to call you but I wasn't sure what to say so I ended up not contacting you at all.**"

- And here I thought that she was the one mad at me.

"Ah, it's fine. You were busy so it's better that you didn't have any distractions."

- Though I have no idea what she actually does.

"**Yeah, all the meetings and paper work really took my time. Being a working adult sure is hard.**"

"By the way, what are you doing now since it's your day off?"

"**I'm in Shibuya with the guys now.**"

"Shibuya? What are you doing all the way at Shibuya?"

"**There's an event here and the guys really wanted to hang out with me so I'll be staying here until tomorrow.**"

"Shouldn't you be resting after such a busy week?"

"**I'll be fine. Besides going out like this relieves the stress from work for me.**"

"Just don't over do it."

"**Don't worry, everything's under control. Hey Shizuo will you be free at noon on Monday?**"

"Yeah, well that's usually the time me and Tom-san take a lunch break. Why do you ask?"

"**Since I won't be as busy as last week I can eat outside the office. I was wondering if we could eat lunch together at Simon's place.**"

"Sure, that'd be great."

"**Ok then I'll see you on Monday. I gotta go now, bye.**"

And so she hung up.

A smile appeared on Shizuo's face as he placed his cell phone back into his pocket. Celty that was sitting beside him just stared at his smiling face as she tilted her helmet.

- I'm not sure what they talked about but Shizuo seems really happy now.

* * *

Would someone please review the story. I have no idea if t's good or bad anymore.

Next Chapter: White Day Is Near


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